Plant growth regulators affecting wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth and seed components and subsequent vernalization under drought stress

Plant physiology, specifically nitrogen (n) metabolism affecting plant phenology (vernalization), may be affected under stress. plant growth regulators (pgr), planting dates, and cold stratification affecting vernalization of wheat under drought stress were investigated. the pgrs used for priming seeds or spraying plants (at the double bridge stage, v4-v6 stage) consisted of the single and the combined use of gibberellins (ga3, ga4, and ga7) benzyl adenine 6 (ba6), and kinetin at 100, 200, and 50, mg/l, respectively. plant morphological properties and seed components were determined in a split plot experiment on the basis of a completely randomized block design with four replicates. priming, spraying, and their interaction significantly affected the measured parameters. autumn planting and spraying with ga4+7 + ba6 resulted in the highest root length (15.75cm). interestingly, seed components were more affected by the treatments in spring planting as the highest spike dry weight was resulted by spraying with ga3+4+7 + kinetin + ba6 (3.97g). spraying at spring planting was also more affective on grain n percentage, as spring planting without priming, using ga3+7 and kinetin, and cold stratification resulted in the highest gnp (3%). the obtained results are another confirmation to our recent experiment indicating it is possible to regulate wheat phonology (vernalization) and improve its growth and seed quality using the tested pgr under drought conditions.