ANALYSIS OF PIGMENTS, PEROXIDASE, PROLINE AND PROTEINS OF THREE Paulownia SPECIES UNDER WATER STRESS

Abstract

Paulownia trees are fast growing and are economically important in Asia as raw material regularly used for furniture, musical instruments, fences, etc., which rose some interest in their cultivation in different environments. In order to assess water stress tolerance, three of these species, P. imperialis, P. fortunei and P. elongate, were selected as they are the most commonly used in reforestation and wood industry in China. Biochemical analyses were performed in leaves, to determine the following elements: pigments (total, a and b chlorophyll; β-carotene, violaxanthin; lutein), peroxidase, proline, total, soluble and insoluble proteins, under three moisture soil concentrations and two environments, field and greenhouse, the latter of which revealed significant differences between them; there is an increment in pigment and peroxidase content and a decrease in protein and proline content, mainly in the greenhouse environment. When water stress was assessed among species, it was concluded that P. imperialis and P. elongata are more tolerant than P. fortunei because of their higher content of proline, total and soluble proteins, which are major tolerance markers in stress conditions.