Water deficit stress (WDS) is a major abiotic factor limiting soybean yield by affecting key physiological and biochemical processes. The application of plant biostimulants has emerged as a promising strategy to mitigate the deleterious effects of water deficit. This study aimed to evaluate the physiological and biochemical responses of soybean plants subjected to water deficit and treated with different biostimulants applied to seeds. The experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions using a randomized block design with subdivided plots. Two water regimes were imposed: field capacity (−10 kPa) and drought stress (−25 kPa), and eight seed-applied biostimulant treatments were evaluated. Water deficit negatively affected photosynthetic activity, relative water content, leaf water potential, and chlorophyll concentration, while increasing electrolyte leakage and proline accumulation. In contrast, the application of specific biostimulants, particularly those based on Rhizophagus irregularis, Lactobacillus spp., and seaweed extracts, significantly mitigated stress effects, enhancing membrane stability, osmotic adjustment, and enzymatic antioxidant activity (SOD and CAT). Moreover, improvements in nitrogen metabolism were observed, including higher nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase activity under water deficit. These results highlight the potential of seed-applied biostimulants as a sustainable strategy to enhance soybean yield and resilience under water deficit stress. Future applications of this approach may contribute to the development of more drought-tolerant cultivars and to improving the stability of soybean yield systems under changing climatic conditions.
扫码关注我们
求助内容:
应助结果提醒方式:
