Coronatine alleviates water deficiency stress on winter wheat seedlings.

With the aim to determine whether coronatine (COR) alleviates drought stress on wheat, two winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars, ChangWu134 (drought-tolerant) and Shan253 (drought-sensitive) were studied under hydroponic conditions. Seedlings at the three-leaf stage were cultured in a Hoagland solution containing COR at 0.1 microM for 24 h, and then exposed to 20% polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG-6000). Under simulated drought (SD), COR increased the dry weight of shoots and roots of the two cultivars significantly; the root/shoot ratio also increased by 30% for Shan253 and 40% for ChangWu134. Both cultivars treated with COR under SD (0.1COR+PEG) maintained significantly higher relative water content, photosynthesis, transpiration, intercellular concentration of CO(2) and stomatal conductance in leaves than those not treated with PEG. Under drought, COR significantly decreased the relative conductivity and malondialdehyde production, and the loss of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl scavenging activity in leaves was significantly alleviated in COR-treated plants. The activity of peroxidase, catalase, glutathione reductase and ascorbate peroxidase were adversely affected by drought. Leaves of plants treated with COR under drought produced less abscisic acid (ABA) than those not treated. Thus, COR might alleviate drought effects on wheat by reducing active oxygen species production, activating antioxidant enzymes and changing the ABA level.