Abstract:
The sweet potato varieties including Pushu 32, Pushu 12, Fucaishu 18, Fushu 604, and Guangshu 87 were used as the test materials, and the chlorophyll content (LCC), leaf area index (LAI), leaf area ratio (SLA), leaf water content (LWC), malondialdehyde (MDA) content, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, peroxidase (POD) activity, catalase (CAT) activity, plant hormone content, and drought resistance gene fluorescence quantification levels were analyzed and evaluated under continuous drought stress using 20% PEG-6000. The results showed that under PEG-6000 drought stress for 7 days, the LCC, LAI, and LWC of sweet potato seedlings decreased, while the SLA, antioxidant enzyme activity, and MDA content increased. Fushu 604 had the lowest decrease in LCC, LAI and LWC, all by 5%, with the largest increase in SLA at 169%. The activities of SOD, POD and CAT increased significantly, while the MDA content decreased the least. In terms of changes in plant hormone content, the indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and indole-butanoic acid (IBA) contents of Fushu 604 increased significantly by 15% and 23%, respectively, while the abscisic acid (ABA) content increased significantly by 69%, the jasmonic acid (JA) content decreased significantly by 84%, and the salicylic acid (SA) content increased significantly by 36%. The gibberellin A4 (GA
4) content decreased the least, by 4%, and the gibberellin A7 (GA
7) content increased significantly by 272%. Under drought stress for 7 days, the expression of
IbWRKY2 was downregulated in all sweet potato varieties except Guangshu 87, while
IbGATA24 was upregulated in all varieties. Among them,
IbWRKY2 showed the smallest decrease in Fucaishu 18, and
IbGATA24 had the largest increase in Fushu 604.
IbSDT was downregulated in all sweet potato varieties except Fushu 604. In summary, different sweet potato varieties respond differently to drought stress. Fushu 604 has a high level of drought resistance gene expression and a high increase in antioxidant enzyme activity, a small increase in MDA, indicating strong drought tolerance.