A preliminary study on the drought resistance of two perennial peanut varieties

Using the polyethylene glycol(PEG) simulated drought stress test,the growth,leaf and stem relative water content(RWC) and protoplasmic membrane penetration (RPP) of Arachis pintoi cv.Amarillo and A.duranensis krapov.& W.C.Greg were studied with 0%,5%,15% and 25% PEG for 24 hours.It was found that the PEG drought stress restrained the growth and physiology metabolism of A.pintoi and A.duranensis to some extent.The effect on the leaves was more significant than the stems.A.pintoi showed a slightly stronger drought resistance than A.duranensis,but not significantly.The regression analysis indicated that,under the stress test,significant(P0.05) negative linear correlations existed between the drought condition and the RWC and RPP of A.pintoi’s stems and A.duranensis’ leaves and stems.This indicated that a synergism might present between RWC and RPP of A.pintoi and A.duranensis.