Speakers

Biography

Dr. Asif Iqbal received his Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China (CAAS) with Chinese Government Scholarship. Later, he completed his postdoctoral fellowship at CAAS, China. He also worked as an Associate Professor at Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, China. Currently, he is working as Assistant Professor Agriculture at Hazara University Mansehra, Pakistan. His main research interests include the genetic evaluation of crop germplasms resources and adaptive mechanisms in crop plants under abiotic stresses. He is the author and co-author of more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, 6 conference proceedings and abstracts, 5 chapters, 2 books, and 4 articles for growers. He is also serving as the editorial board member and reviewer for international peer-reviewed journals like BMC Plant Biology and Journal of Cotton Research. He has supervised 16 Master's level students at Hazara University Mansehra, Pakistan.

Abstract

Low phosphorus (P) is one of the limiting factors in sustainable cotton production. However, little is known about the performance of contrasting low P tolerant cotton genotypes that might be a possible option to grow in low P condition. In the current study, we characterized the response of two cotton genotypes, Jimian169 a strong low P tolerant, and DES926 a weak low P tolerant genotypes under low and normal P conditions. The results showed that low P greatly inhibited growth, dry matter production, photosynthesis, and enzymatic activities related to antioxidant system and carbohydrate metabolism and the inhibition was more in DES926 as compared to Jimian169. In contrast, low P improved root morphology, carbohydrate accumulation, and P metabolism, especially in Jimian169, whereas the opposite responses were observed for DES926. The strong low P tolerance in Jimian169 is linked with a better root system and enhanced P and carbohydrate metabolism, suggesting that Jimian169 is a model genotype for cotton breeding. Results thus indicate that the Jimian169, compared with DES926, tolerates low P by enhancing carbohydrate metabolism and by inducing the activity of several enzymes related to P metabolism. This apparently causes rapid P turnover and enables the Jimian169 to use P more efficiently. Moreover, the transcript level of the key genes could provide useful information to study the molecular mechanism of low P tolerance in cotton.