Induced Drought Tolerance by the Insecticide Imidacloprid in Plant

Imidacloprid is a systemic insecticide which has been used widely in various crops to control insects. In the present study, we demonstrated that pre-treatment of imidacloprid significantly induced tolerance to drought in plant. Relative water content, chlorophyll levels, and recovery rate upon rehydration after drought stress in tobacco plants pre-treated with imidacloprid were higher levels than the control plants. Induced drought tolerance by imidacloprid treatments in red pepper was also demonstrated by measurement of recovery rate and fresh weight upon drought stress. Taken together, our results suggest that imidacloprid, in addition to exerting direct insecticidal activity, may also protect plants by induced tolerance to drought in plant.