Response of brinjal genotypes to drought and flooding stress Bhatt R.M., Laxman R.H., Singh T.H., Divya M.H., Srilakshmi, Rao A.D.D.V.S. Nageswar Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessarghatta Lake Post, Bengaluru-560089, India Online published on 29 March, 2016. Abstract A study was conducted to evaluate the plant responses to drought and flooding in eight genotypes of brinjal (Solanum melongena L. cvs. I.I.H.R.3, BMG-1, BPLH-1, Arka Kesav, Arka Neelkanth, Arka Nidhi, Arka Shirish, Mattu Gulla) and a wild type Solanum macrocarpon. The results indicated the greater sensitivity of stomata under flooding compared to drought in brinjal genotypes. Genotype BMG-1 performed photosynthetically better under drought, while under flooding Arka Nidhi and Arka Keshav has shown higher photosynthetic rate. The closure of stomata in drought was gradual, while during flooding the closure was quick as shown the differential response of stomatal conductance in brinjal genotypes under these two conditions. During flooding, the better water balance was maintained by Arka Shirish and Arka Neelkanth, while during drought, Arka Keshav and Arka Neelkanth had the better water balance as indicated by greater RWC and osmotic potential values. The study further envisage that apart from the plant performance during stress, the recovery potential is an important aspects and particularly in flooding where the recovery process seems to be very slow as compared to drought. The better recovery after releasing flooding was found in Arka Keshav, Arka Neelkanth, IIHR-3 and BPLH-1 followed by S. macrocarpon and Mattu Gulla, while after releasing the drought stress, better recovery was observed in BMG-1, Arka Shirish, Arka Neelkanth, Arka Nidhi, S, macrocarpon, and BPLH-1. Top Keywords Brinjal, drought, flooding, photosynthesis. Top |