Afat Mammadova Oqtay, Roza Mammadova Nazim *, Kamala Asadova Adil, Chichak Akbarova Mubariz and Boyukkhanim Jafarzade Abdulkerim
Baku State University, Faculty of Biology, Baku, Azerbaijan
*Corresponding author: roza.mammadova.nazim@bsu.edu.az
This study aimed to agrobiologically evaluate the developmental stability of Cicer arietinum L. under high-temperature stress in agrocenoses of Azerbaijan, using seed germination and fluctuating leaf asymmetry as key indicators. We also studied key mitochondrial enzymes over the last 3 years. Initially, we assessed the heat tolerance of three varieties based on germination at 25 ± 2°C. The variety 'Ulunana' showed the highest germination (68%) and was selected for further analysis. Plants were exposed to controlled temperature regimes for three days, simulating both short-term (35 ± 2°C for 5 h/day) and long-term (35 ± 2°C day/25 ± 2°C night) heat stress. FA was measured as an indicator of developmental stability, along with the dynamics of photosynthetic pigments. The results showed a clear increase in bilateral leaf asymmetry, variance, and FA values under stress. Under STS, bilateral asymmetry increased by 1.43 times, and under LTS, by 1.76 times compared to the control group. The FA index increased by 1.95 times after short-term heat exposure and by approximately 3 times after long-term heat exposure. Analysis of photosynthetic pigments revealed compensatory responses within 14–17 days, followed by a significant decrease in chlorophyll and carotenoid content by day 21, indicating depletion of photoprotective mechanisms. Day 14 was identified as a critical ontogenetic threshold, beyond which adaptive capacity is gradually exhausted. These results indicate that high temperature stress significantly disrupts the developmental homeostasis of chickpea plants and highlight the utility of FA as a sensitive integrative biomarker for identifying heat-tolerant genotypes. We analyzed comparative additive main effects and multiplicative interactions in 2023, 2024, and 2025.