Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1497303

Potential Physiological Tolerance Mechanisms in Faba bean to Orobanche sp. Parasitism

Provisionally accepted
Siwar Thebti Siwar Thebti 1Amal Bouallegue Amal Bouallegue 1Touhami Rzigui Touhami Rzigui 2Youness En-Nahli Youness En-Nahli 3Faouzi Horchani Faouzi Horchani 4Taoufik Hosni Taoufik Hosni 1Mohamed Kharrat Mohamed Kharrat 1Moez Amri Moez Amri 3Zouhaier Abbes Zouhaier Abbes 1*
  • 1 Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie (INRAT), Ariana, Tunisia
  • 2 National Research Institute for Rural Engineering, Water and Forestry (INRGREF), Ariana, Tunisia
  • 3 College for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Ben Guerir, Morocco
  • 4 Faculté des Sciences de Gafsa, Gafsa, Tunisia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Abstract Orobanche spp. are root parasitic plants that cause severe yield losses in faba bean (Vicia faba L.). The use of tolerant varieties remains as a pivotal component for a successful integrated control strategy. In this study, we investigated the potential physiological mechanisms associated with the tolerance to O. crenata and O. foetida in faba bean. Results showed that Orobanche parasitism significantly affected faba bean plants growth and seed production especially in the sensitive Bachaar (up to 61.77 % and 83.53% in shoot dry weight, up to 79.59% in pod number and no pod development when infected with O. foetida and O. crenata, respectively). This reduction was correlated to photosynthetic capacity (Amax) decreases in response to both O. foetida and O. crenata parasitism. This decrease was highly pronounced in the sensitive Bachaar with 24.57% and 63.43% respectively. Significant decreases were also observed in the sensitive Bachaar for the photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) (1.1% and 4.78%), the maximum transpiration (Emax) (11.8% and 39.13%) and the maximum water use efficiency (WUEmax) (24.97% and 41.77%) in response to O. foetida and O. crenata parasitism, respectively, against non-significant differences for the tolerant Chams, Chourouk and Zaher. The tolerant faba bean varieties were able to maintain a normal function of their photosynthesis capacity (An) and conserve their growth and seed production level, as a result of an acclimation to parasitic attack (Maintaining WUEmax). Our results suggest that yield components such as shoot dry weight, pod and leaf numbers and photosynthetic parameters notably the transpiration rate, can serve as suitable traits for assessing tolerance to Orobanche parasitism in faba bean plants.

    Keywords: Vicia faba L., Orobanche crenata, Orobanche foetida, tolerance, Fv/Fm, net carbon assimilation (An), Transpiration (E)

    Received: 16 Sep 2024; Accepted: 14 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Thebti, Bouallegue, Rzigui, En-Nahli, Horchani, Hosni, Kharrat, Amri and Abbes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zouhaier Abbes, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie (INRAT), Ariana, Tunisia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.