Effect on morphological characters in Eucalyptus tereticornis Sm. at juvenile stage under the influence of moisture stress and mitigation by Brassionosteroids and sucrose

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to study the effects of brassinosteroids and sucrose under moisture on the morphological of Eucalyptus tereticornis Sm. at juvenile stage under controlled condition in nursery. The experiment was conducted with the aim of investigating the study the effect of moisture stress levels on growth and physiological characters also to establish the effective combination of BRs and sucrose to combat moisture stress. The study was carried out on the clonal seedlings P-23 of Eucalyptus tereticornis at the Department of Forestry, CCSHAU, Hisar. The clonal seedlings were planted in pots in nursery containing sand and soil in 2:1 proportion. Mineral composition of the pot soil was assessed before planting the Eucalyptus tereticornis plants. All the pots were received normal watering till 90 days of seedling growth. Three months old potted seedlings were subjected to moisture stress (M1 to M3) by withholding water. The different levels of brassinosteroids (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 ppm) and sucrose (0, 1, 3 and 5% (w/v) were applied to the seedlings. It was observed that increment in shoot length, root length, fresh and dry biomass of fine root, coarse root and total plant biomass significantly declined under moisture stress. But in case of the root length, fresh and dry weight of fine root and coarse root increased and total plant fresh and dry weight decreased with increased the moisture stress levels (M1 to M3).