Interactive effect of thiourea application on morphological and physiological characteristics in Cicer arietinum L. grown at different temperatures

Abstract

Global warming affects many metabolic events in plants and significantly reduces yield and product quality. One of the physiological events most affected by heat stress is nitrogen metabolism. In this study, 5 and 10 mM thiourea was applied to chickpea plants grown at 15, 25, and 35 °C and it was aimed to determine how the plant can cope with heat stress with nitrogen supplementation. It was determined that the root length decreased significantly at all three temperatures depending on the increasing thiourea concentration, while the shoot length increased at 15 and 35 °C compared to the control. There was a decrease in root fresh weight in all three experimental groups due to increasing thiourea concentrations. Only at 5 mM at 15 °C was a highly significant increase seen over the control. When the experimental groups at all temperatures were compared, the highest chlorophyll a, b, and total chlorophyll values were found at 35 °C. It was determined that SOD activity decreased at all three temperatures compared to the control, while CAT and APX activity increased. A significant increase in NR and GS activity was determined in both thiourea treatments at 25 and 35 °C compared to the control.