Ammonia volatilization during moisture stress from wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum </i>L.) plant canopy

Abstract

The physiological and biochemical factors that govern the exchange of NH₃ between plants and air were studied together with method for measuring the gas exchange. The investigations were conducted with Uniculm ‘Gigas’ cultivar of wheat with soil moisture was maintained at two different levels of moisture stress. It was clear from the data, that water stressed plants lost more nitrogen in the form of NH₃ than the control, irrigated plants. The neutral protease activity was found to be significantly higher in water stressed plants at all the growth stages after anthesis and maximum at 21 days after anthesis as compared to the

control plants.Neutral protease activity and ammonia loss were well correlated with each other. No positive relationship was observed between ammonia loss, transpiration rate and carbon dioxide exchange rate. The result of present study confirmed that senescent and moisture stressed tissues achieved relatively high NH₃ volatilization rates as compared to the control plants.