Abstract

CARDONA-AYALA, CARLOS; JARMA-OROZCO, ALFREDO  and  ARAMENDIZ-TATIS, HERMES. Drought adaptation mechanisms in the cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.)Walp.). A review. rev.colomb.cienc.hortic. [online]. 2013, vol.7, n.2, pp.277-288. ISSN 2011-2173.

This article presents a review of the drought adaptation mechanisms observed in the cowpea bean, providing the morphological responses, water and gas exchange ratios, osmotic adjustment, antioxidant system and molecular activity. Furthermore, the indicators that allow for the diagnosis of the plant stress level are described, such as the root / shoot ratio, density and root depth, root dry-matter, specific leaf area, number of leaves and flowers, leaf senescence and abscission, yield components, stomatal conductance, transpiration, water-use efficiency, contents of the osmolytes: proline, glycine-betaine and sugars; activity of antioxidant enzymes involved in the detoxification processes of the oxygen-reactive species: catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione reductase, as well as the visualization of the knowledge-frontiers in this area that are of great importance to the improvement of the species and advances in molecular biology.

Keywords : drought tolerance; osmoregulation; roots; stomatal conductance.

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