Growth Responses and Changes in Protein and Nucleic Acids of Cajanus cajan L. under Normal, Excess and Deficient Water Supply

In order to compare growth responses and biochemical changes under different water regimes, Cajanus cajan plants were grown under normal conditions of day and night. Selected growth parameters were plant height, branch number, leaf number, leaf area and stem diameter. Water potential of leaves at different stages was also determined. Protein content, protease activity, RNA and DNA were estimated among biochemical changes to observe the variation by changing the water supply. These plants belonged to one of the three categories viz. those getting water supply (1) twice, (2) five times and (3) not even once during 120-day of growth. Lesser supply of water resulted marked fall in water potential values whereas excess supply was responsible for relatively higher values at various stages of leaf growth. Marked variations were noticed in height, branch number per plant, number of leaves, leaf area and stem diameter. Among growth responses, excess supply of water did not cause marked change while deficient availability of water drastically affected chosen parameters. Both excess and deficient water supply brought down the amount of protein, RNA and DNA in comparison to plants getting normal supply. Water stress has severely affected growth processes and metabolism of pigeon pea plants.