Responses of growth and primary metabolism of water-stressed barley roots to rehydration

Barley seedlings were grown in pots in controlled environment chambers and progressive drought treatments were imposed 11 d after sowing. Soil water content decreased from 92 to 10% following 14 d without watering. Increases of biomass in shoots and roots slowed after 4 and 9 d of water stress, respectively. Thirty barley root metabolites were monitored in this study and 85% were significantly altered by drought. Sucrose, raffinose, glucose, fructose, maltose, malate, asparagine and proline increased and myo-inositol, glycerate, alanine, serine, glycine and glutamate decreased during drought. Primary metabolism was likely involved in various crucial processes during water stress including, osmotic adjustment, nitrogen sequestration and ammonia detoxification. Rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance recovered in 2 d and shoot growth commenced the 3rd day after rehydration. Root growth also exhibited a lag after rehydration but this was attributed to high nutrient concentrations during water stress. Malate and proline recovered within 1 d but serine was only partially reversed 6 d after rehydration. Malate, aspartate and raffinose decreased below well-watered, control levels following rehydration. Variation in the magnitude and time necessary for individual compounds to fully recover after rehydration suggested the complexity of metabolic processes initiated by re-watering.