Antioxidant responses of Chickpea genotypes exposed to moisture stress

Present investigation was carried on six chickpea genotypes (tolerant and sensitive) imposed to moisture stress at varied growth stages viz. irrigated as and when required (C), sown with one pre-sowing irrigation (WSVFP), stressed at flower initiation (WSF) and stressed at pod initiation (WSP). The experiment was conducted in the field area of Plant Breeding and Genetics department, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. Fresh chickpea seeds at 120 DAS, stressed at varied growth stages were used to determine activities of antioxidant enzymes. viz. peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione reductase (GR) in order to find out whether these parameters can be used as selection criteria for moisture stress tolerance in chickpea. Results indicated wide variation in stress tolerance amongst chickpea genotypes at varied growth stages. On the basis of antioxidant activity, genotypes GL28151, RSG963 and PDG3 appeared to be more adapted to moisture stress tolerance. Treatment WSVFP showed maximum level of anti-oxidative enzyme activities, followed by stress treatment WSP and WSF.