
This scientic publication in digital format is a continuation of the Printed Review: Legal Deposit pp 196802ZU42, ISSN 0378-7818.
  Rev. Fac. Agron. (LUZ). 2023, 40(1): e234007. Enero-Marzo. ISSN 2477-9407.
4-5 |
degradation by increased ROS content. Chlorophyll loss was shown 
to be accompanied by the damage of the mesophyll chloroplasts, 
which led to a lower photosynthetic rate (Khalilzadeh et al., 2016). 
The study reported by Zobiole et al. (2011) demonstrated that 
Glyphosate signicantly 
decreased chlorophyll content in soybean 
compared with the non-glyphosate control. This decrease could be 
due to direct damage of the chloroplast in the presence of glyphosate, 
as plants from all maturity groups exposed to a single or sequential 
application of glyphosate frequently had chlorophyll concentrations 
lower than plants that were not exposed to this herbicide. It’s also 
well  known  that a  decrease  in  the  chlorophyll  content  could  be 
due to a decrease in the stomata aperture, aimed at limiting water 
losses by evaporation and by increased resistance to the entry of 
atmospheric CO
2
 necessary for photosynthesis (Zhu et al.,  2016; 
Enneb et al., 2020). Karabulut and Çanakcı (2021) showed that the 
oxidative stress created by glyphosate treatment caused decrease in 
chlorophyll (a+b). As well, Caglar et al. (2011) analyzed the eects 
of the herbicide paraquat on chlorophyll content, observing that 
bread wheat varieties after paraquat herbicide treatment decreased 
chlorophyll  content.  Glyphosate  sensitivity  index  (GSI)  for  the 
examined durum wheat varied between 0.65-1.21, the dierences 
among all genotypes  tested were highly signicant (table 2). The 
variety  Boutaleb  was  observed  as  the  most  sensitive  to  oxidative 
stress  followed  by  Jupare  C  2001.  However, advanced  line  G5 
recorded  the  lowest  GSI  thus  appeared  as  the  most  tolerant  to 
oxidative stress. Based on the ranking for traits illustrated in table 
2, genotypes G5 and Oued el bared were the best performing under 
oxidative stress.
Electrolyte leakage 
Plant membranes are subject to changes often associated with 
increases in permeability and loss of integrity under environmental 
stresses (Masoumi et al., 2010). Evaluation of cell damage degree 
was accomplished for the ten genotypes using membrane stability 
index: Electrolyte leakage has been recommended as a useful 
criterion for the selection of stress-tolerant cultivars in several crop 
species (Slama et al., 2018). Moreover, ion leakage has been used 
as an ecient measure for the evaluation of the damage induced by 
herbicide that aects the integrity of the membranes (Silva et al., 
2016). There was a signicant dierence in the amount of electrolyte 
leakage (REL %) from leaf tissues for the genotypes tested, with 
a mean of 64.8 % (table 3). Line G6 exhibited the lowest value 
implying that this genotype was the most resistant under oxidative 
stress and line G4 the most susceptible ones.  The ability of cell 
membranes to control the rate of ion movement in and out of cells is 
used as a test of damage to a great range of tissues (Masoumi et al., 
2010). Glyphosate caused oxidative damage in plants and disturbed 
cellular homeostasis of plants. Under oxidative stress production of 
ROS increased, thus oxidizing lipids of membranes, and increasing 
their permeability that leads to ion leakage (Sakya et al., 2018).
Conclusion
Oxidative damage induced by glyphosate herbicide aects the 
physiological parameters of the examined durum wheat. Hence, these 
parameters can be used as a criterion to select adapted genotypes to 
oxidative  stress.  Our  study  revealed  signicant variations  among 
the genotypes (P<0.05). The genotypes with the lowest velocity of 
chlorophyll  degradation  and  the  lowest  chlorophyll  ratio  yielded 
the  lowest  sensitivity  to  oxidative  stress.  The  advanced  line  G5 
was recorded as the most tolerant to oxidative stress. Based on our 
ndings, the highest value of injured cells was observed in advanced 
line G4, while line G6 recorded the lowest, indicating that it could 
maintain high membrane integrity during oxidative stress. We can 
conclude that both advanced lines G5 and G6 are very suitable to 
the growing conditions.
Table 3. Changes in relative electrolyte Leakage (%) of ten 
durum wheat genotypes under Oxidative stress.
Genotypes
REL%
G1
61.86
bcd
G2
64.29
bc
G3
66.67
bc
G4
80.16
a
G5
72.57
ab
G6
50.77
d
Jupare C 2001
61.73
bcd
Bousselem
58.2
cd
Boutaleb
69.42
abc
Oued el bared
62.35
bcd
Mean
64.8
Max
80.16
Min
50.77
CV
13
LSD
11,64
Eect genotype **
**: signicant eect at 5 %, REL%: Electrolyte leakage.
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