Legume Research
Web of Science
  • Year: 2026
  • Volume: 49
  • Issue: 4

Physiological Evaluation of Drought Resistance in Five Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Cultivars using PEG-induced Stress

  • Author:
  • Honghui Cui1, Jiaxing Sun2, Yu Tang3, Yuntao Wang4, Jiachi Liu2, Yanqin Hao1, Jingzhu Li1, Hongze Liao2*
  • Total Page Count: 6
  • Page Number: 593 to 598

1School of Tourism and Environment, Zhangjiakou University, Zhangjiakou-075000, Hebei, China.

2School of Marine Sciences and Biotechnology, Guangxi Minzu University, Nanning-530008, Guangxi, China.

3State Key Laboratory of Wheat Improvement, Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Shandong Laboratory of Advanced Agricultural Sciences in Weifang, Weifang-261325, Shandong, China.

4School of Grassland, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot-010011, Inner Mongolia, China.

*Corresponding Author: Hongze Liao, School of Marine Sciences and Biotechnology, Guangxi Minzu University, Nanning-530008, Guangxi, China. Email: hzliao@gxmzu.edu.cn

Abstract

Screening drought-resistant alfalfa cultivars is crucial for sustainable forage production in semi-arid and arid regions. To investigate the effects of drought stress on the physiological characteristics of alfalfa (M. sativa L.) seedlings and to screen drought-resistant alfalfa varieties, this experiment used five alfalfa cultivars as materials and conducted germination tests under four polyethylene glycol (PEG)-6000 concentrations (0%, 5%, 10% and 20%).

The physiological indicators of the seedlings treated with PEG-6000, including free proline (Pro), soluble protein (SP), soluble sugar (SS), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT), were measured and analyzed.

The results showed that drought stress significantly affected the physiological characteristics of the five alfalfa cultivars. As the drought stress intensified, except for Pro and SP content, the five physiological indicators of WL363HQ showed an increasing trend; the changes in physiological indicators of WL168HQ, WL440HQ, Baimu 202 and Kehan under different stress concentrations exhibited significant variability. The comprehensive evaluation using the membership function method indicated that WL363HQ possessed superior drought resistance compared to the other cultivars. The findings of this study will provide theoretical basis for research on the drought resistance mechanisms of alfalfa, the breeding of new drought-resistant varieties and the cultivation of alfalfa cultivars in semi-arid and arid regions.

Keywords

Alfalfa, Antioxidant enzymes, Drought stress, Membership function, Osmotic stress, Physiological indicators