. 2019 Sep 24;14(9):e0222647. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222647

Table 2. Various growth related and physiological parameters of muskmelon plants observed under 0 (well-watered), 7, 14 and 21 days of water-deficit.

Parameters observed	Days of drought stress
Parameters observed	^*0 days	7 days	14 days	21 days
RDW/RFW (%)	13.6 ± 1.11^c	15.9± 1.13^bc	18.8 ± 1.5^ab	22 ± 1.26^a
SDW/SFW (%)	10.8 ± 0.3^c	11.7 ± 0.72^bc	14.8 ± 1.34^b	22.1 ± 1.33^a
LDW/LFW (%)	20.8 ± 1.76^b	23.9 ± 1.91^b	28.5 ± 3.04^ab	34.4 ± 2.8^a
Root branches (N)	14 ± 1.16^a	12.1 ± 1.21^ab	9.34 ± 0.22^bc	7.6 ± 0.42^c
Root girdth (cm)	3.27 ± 0.16^a	3.02 ± 0.10^a	2.83 ± 0.26^a	2.72 ± 0.13^a
Root length (cm)	24.5 ± 1.95^d	31.5 ± 1.62^c	40.7 ± 1.88^b	54.6 ± 2.9^a
Shoot length (cm)	107 ± 7.19^a	88.5 ± 4.37^b	65.52± 5.61^c	59.9 ± 2.34^c
Leaf Area (cm)	133 ± 6^a	110 ± 8.74^ab	98.5 ± 7.08^bc	85.2 ± 6.37^c
Photosynthetic rate (μmol m^-2 s^-1)	14.3 ± 1.2^a	12.1 ± 1.4^ab	11 ± 1.0^ab	9.1 ± 1.27^b
Stomatal conductance (mmol m^-2 s^-1)	1.15 ± 0.04^a	1.04 ± 0.05^a	0.86 ± 0.04^b	0.81 ± 0.06^b
Transpiration rate (mmol m^-2s^-1)	13.7 ± 1.02^a	11.2 ± 1.15^ab	8.76 ± 0.60^b	5.38 ± 0.32^c
Fv/Fm	0.75 ± 0.02^a	0.73 ± 0.02^a	0.64 ± 0.02^b	0.57 ± 0.01^c

RDW; Root Dry Weight, RFW; Root Dry Weight, SDW; Shoot Dry Weight, SFW; Shoot Fresh Weight, LDW; Leaf Dry Weight, LFW; Leaf Fresh Weight, N; Number, cm; centimeter. The results are mean ± SE of triplicate measurements. Means followed by the same letter along same row are not significantly different (P ≤ 0.05), according to Duncan’s multiple range test.

*0 days—control