Physiological response of two soybean cultivars grown under water stress conditions as affected by CCC treatment

ABSTRACT

Water stress significantly decreased plant height, number of both leaves and branches, total leaf area, dry weight of shoot per plant as well as yield and its components. A similar tendency was generally noticed when soybean plants were treated with CCC. However, CCC treatment significantly increased pods number and weight of seeds/plant. Decreasing the available soil moisture content significantly reduced the content of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoids in soybean leaves. Reversely, CCC treatment significantly elevated the concentration of photosynthetic pigments compared with untreated plants. Protein content was increased obviously whether the plants were subjected to water deficit or treated with CCC. Protein content in soybean seeds was significantly increased by increasing water stress, and was accompanied by decrease in oil percentage. However, CCC treatment had no significant effect on protein and oil content