The role of potassium on drought resistance of winter wheat cultivars under cold dryland conditions: Probed by chlorophyll a fluorescence

Potassium (K) is an important cation that regulates plant metabolism. Therefore the effect of different concentrations of potassium (0, 75, 150 kg ha(-1) K2SO4) on photosynthesis efficiency of three winter wheat cultivars (Baran, Homa, Hashtrud) was investigated during the growing seasons of 2017-18 and 2018-19 under cold dryland conditions in Maragheh, Iran. Accumulation of potassium ion (K+) was observed to be increased with an increase in the concentration of K2SO4. With an increase in K+ the Hashtrud cultivar was observed to have more relative water content (RWC), normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI), and stomatal conductance (gs) than other cultivars. This resulted in a higher grain yield for the Hashtrud cultivar. RWC (R-2 = 0.97), NDVI (R-2 = 0.96), and gs (R-2 = 0.92) had a positive relationship with KUE (grain yield/unit of K fertilizer used), especially in dryer years. K deficiency induced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in plants. The application of K increased superoxide dismutases and reduced abscisic acid, to maintain the plants' stomatal conductance. Chlorophyll a fluorescence (ChlF) and the calculation of double normalized relative variable fluorescence reveal detailed information's about the response of wheat plants to K application under dryland conditions. The application of a high concentration of K (150 kg ha(-1) K2SO4) on Hashtrud plants had a beneficial effect on the ChlF efficiency at different OJIP phases (KJ and JI). We found the efficiency of ChlF at the Delta WK-I phase with the values of F-V/F-O and PIABS improved with the application of 150 kg ha(-1) K2SO4 and can be correlated with total yield improvement. These observations indicated that the application of a high concentration of K in stressed conditions for dryland areas could improve photosynthetic efficiency and wheat plant performance.