Abstract: Although foxtail millet is a relatively drought tolerant crop in cereals,it may still suffer from serious water stress because it is mostly grown in dry land and drought environments.To screen for drought tolerant identification index in the booting stage,some physiological characteristic were assayed by comparison between drought stress treated and normal grown foxtail millet varieties.Twenty foxtail millet cultivars with different drought tolerances were used as experimental materials.Changes in WSS(Water soluble sugar),Pro(Prolin),MDA(Malondialdehyde) content and antioxidative enzyme activities were studied under both irrigation and drought stress conditions at the booting stage.The results indicated that the contents of WSS,Pro,and MDA increased to a higher level in drought stress treatment,the enzymatic activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD) and catalase(CAT) also increased,but that of peroxidase(POD) decreased in the leaves treated at the booting stage.Correlation analysis showed that the drought tolerant coefficient significantly or very significantly correlated with relative contents of WSS,MDA and SOD activity under irrigation and drought conditions.Results obtained concluded that the relative content of WSS and MDA,and the relative activity of SOD could be selected as identification indexes for drought tolerance ability test at foxtail millet booting stage.A stepwise regression equation was established using the three characters,which is y=0.111x₁-0.893x₂+0.682x₃,and test with the algorithm indicating its efficiency and reliability.

Key words: Foxtail millet, Drought stress, Booting stage, Physiological characteristics

CLC Number: 

• S515.01