Jurnal Biodjati 6(2):190–202, November 2021 http://journal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/biodjati e-ISSN : 2541-4208 p-ISSN : 2548-1606 THE PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF Zea mays L. AND Cucumis sativus L. ON DROUGHT STRESS AND RE-WATERING Selis Meriem* 1 , Evi Muliyah 2 , Melisnawati H. Angio 3 , Triadiati 4 INTRODUCTION During the last decades, climate changes are being the key drivers to rise global warming. This elevates temperatures and water defcit leading to an increased drought that result in an imbalance of high transpiration loss and low water uptake that afects plant physiological systems (Jalota et al., 2018; Lamaoui et al., 2018). This abiotic stress is considered a prominent threat that inhibits and also alters metabolism pathways, evenly reduces yields and plant productivity (Caser et al., 2019; Heinemann et al., 2017; Citation Meriem, S., Muliyah, E., Angio, M. H. & Triardati. (2021). The Physiological Respones of Zea mays L. and Cucumis sativus on Drought Stress and Re-Watering. Jurnal Biodjati, 6(2), 190–202.. Received : May 12, 2021 Accepted : October 11, 2021 DOI: 10.15575/biodjati.v6i2.12572 1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Islam Negeri Alauddin, Makasar, Gowa 92113, Indonesia 2 Department of Biology Education, Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta 15412, Indonesia 3 Balai Konservasi Tumbuhan Kebun Raya Purwodadi - LIPI, Jl. Raya Surabaya - Malang No.KM. 65, Pasuruan 67163, Indonesia 4 Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematic and Natural Sciences, Bogor Agricultural University, Dramaga Campus, Bogor, 16680, Indonesia e-mail: * 1 selis.meriem@uin-alauddinac.id 2 evimuliyah@uinjkt.ac.id 3 melisnawati09@gmail.com 4 adiatiipb@gmail.com *Corresponding author Abstract. Drought leads to defcit water availability and its detri- mental efects seriously threaten plant growth. This study assessed the physiological, biochemical, and antioxidant adjustments in dif- ferent types of photosynthetic plants between Zea mays L. (C4) and Cucumis sativus L. (C3 plant) under response to short-term drought stress. Analyses of relative water content (RWC), proline, and ascor- bic acid (AsA) were performed to explore how these plants react to drought. Fifteen-day-old plants were subjected to full irrigation or gradual drought periods for 2-d, 4-d, 6-d, and 8-d following by re- covery for 7-d. The results revealed that drought signifcantly reduces leaf RCW in both plants. Re-watered Z. mays after 8-d drought was higher than C. sativus and reestablished RCW by 23% of stressed plant although remained lower by 9% of the well-watered plant. While, proline and AsA contents in Z. mays were higher than those in C. sativus in drought treatment at 8-d (2.05 µmol/g FW) and 6-d (3174.60 AsA/100 g FW), respectively, that could demonstrate os- motic adjustment ability in this C4 species. The increased proline in both plants also indicates a good strategy for plants to recover. Rewatering gave a decrease AsA and could be expected that plants restore cellular activity after oxidative injury. Based on our study, proline is the most informative biochemical marker to diferentiate plant response to drought and Z. mays adjusted defense mechanism to drought rather than C. sativus due to higher accumulation of pro- line, better antioxidant activity, and improved RCW after recovery. Keywords: acorbic acid, Cucumis sativus L., drought, proline, rela- tive water content, Zea mays L.