Performance of interior spruce seedlings treated with abscisic acid analogs

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 2061-2070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven C. Grossnickle ◽  
Raymund S. Folk ◽  
Suzanne R. Abrams ◽  
David I. Dunstan ◽  
Patricia A. Rose

This research examined the performance of interior spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss × Piceaengelmannii Parry ex Engelm.) seedlings, each group treated with one of nine abscisic acid (ABA) analogs, during the initial stages of seedling establishment under a range of environmental conditions. Interior spruce seedlings were removed from frozen storage, ABA analog treatments were immediately applied, and seedlings were tested under low root temperature or moderate drought cycle conditions. Alternatively, seedlings were removed from frozen storage and held until bud break had occurred before ABA analog treatments were applied. These seedlings were then tested under severe drought or optimum environmental conditions. ABA analog 1, followed by ABA analog 2, had the most consistent performance of the nine tested ABA analogs under all combinations of environmental test conditions. These ABA analogs reduced needle conductance for 7–9 days when seedlings were tested under low root temperature conditions with only a reduction in net photosynthesis on the first day of testing. During three successive moderate drought cycles, seedlings treated with ABA analogs 1 and 2 had partial stomatal closure, thereby increasing mean shoot water potential by around 50%. During a severe drought, ABA analog 1 caused partial stomatal closure, which allowed seedlings to maintain a mean shoot water potential of greater than −3.0 MPa and a positive net photosynthesis up to 8 days longer than control seedlings. Under optimum environmental conditions, ABA analogs 1 and 2 reduced needle conductance for up to 7 days, with net photosynthesis reduced for 1 day. Root growth was not adversely affected in seedlings treated with any of the ABA analogs prior to bud break. However, when seedlings were treated after bud break, all ABA analogs reduced growth of long roots (>4.0 cm) by approximately 60%. ABA analogs 1 and 2 delayed bud break by 4 days, when compared with control seedlings. Results are discussed in reference to the establishment process of spruce seedlings on reforestation sites.

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Peña-Rojas ◽  
Xavier Aranda ◽  
Richard Joffre ◽  
Isabel Fleck

Functional and morphological (structural) characteristics of Quercus ilex L. leaves under drought stress were studied in the forest and in a nursery. We compared undisturbed individuals (controls) with resprouts emerging after clear-cut or excision. When soil water availability was high, gas-exchange was similar in resprouts and controls, despite higher midday leaf water potential, midday leaf hydration and relative water content (RWC). In moderate drought, stomatal closure was found to limit photosynthesis in controls, and in severe drought non-stomatal limitations of photosynthesis were also greater than in resprouts. Leaf structure and chemical composition changed under drought stress. Leaves tended to be smaller in controls with increasing drought, and resprouts had larger leaves and lower leaf mass area (LMA). The relationship between nitrogen (N) content and LMA implied lower N investment in photosynthetic components in controls, which could be responsible for their increased non-stomatal limitation of photosynthesis. Changes were more apparent in leaf density (D) and thickness (T), components of LMA. Decreases in D were related to reductions in cell wall components: hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. In resprouts, reduced D and leaf T accounted for the higher mesophyll conductance (gmes) to CO2 measured.


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 886-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Martínez-Arias ◽  
Juan Sobrino-Plata ◽  
David Macaya-Sanz ◽  
Natalie Marie Aguirre ◽  
Carmen Collada ◽  
...  

Abstract Under increasingly harsh climatic conditions, conservation of threatened species requires integrative studies to understand stress tolerance. Riparian Ulmus minor Mill. populations have been massively reduced by Dutch Elm disease (DED). However, resistant genotypes were selected to restore lost populations. To understand the acclimation mechanisms to the succession of abiotic stresses, ramets of five DED-tolerant U. minor genotypes were subjected to flood and subsequently to drought. Physiological and biochemical responses were evaluated together with shifts in root-fungal assemblages. During both stresses, plants exhibited a decline in leaf net photosynthesis and an increase in percentage loss of stem hydraulic conductivity and in leaf and root proline content. Stomatal closure was produced by chemical signals during flood and hydraulic signals during drought. Despite broad similarities in plant response to both stresses, root-mycobiome shifts were markedly different. The five genotypes were similarly tolerant to moderate drought, however, flood tolerance varied between genotypes. In general, flood did not enhance drought susceptibility due to fast flood recovery, nevertheless, different responses to drought after flood were observed between genotypes. Associations were found between some fungal taxonomic groups and plant functional traits varying with flood and drought (e.g. proline, chlorophyll and starch content) indicating that the thriving of certain taxa depends on host responses to abiotic stress.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 354
Author(s):  
El-Sayed M. Desoky ◽  
Elsayed Mansour ◽  
Mohamed M. A. Ali ◽  
Mohamed A. T. Yasin ◽  
Mohamed I. E. Abdul-Hamid ◽  
...  

The influence of 24-epibrassinolide (EBR24), applied to leaves at a concentration of 5 μM, on plant physio-biochemistry and its reflection on crop water productivity (CWP) and other agronomic traits of six maize hybrids was field-evaluated under semi-arid conditions. Two levels of irrigation water deficiency (IWD) (moderate and severe droughts; 6000 and 3000 m3 water ha−1, respectively) were applied versus a control (well-watering; 9000 m3 water ha−1). IWD reduced the relative water content, membrane stability index, photosynthetic efficiency, stomatal conductance, and rates of transpiration and net photosynthesis. Conversely, antioxidant enzyme activities and osmolyte contents were significantly increased as a result of the increased malondialdehyde content and electrolyte leakage compared to the control. These negative influences of IWD led to a reduction in CWP and grain yield-related traits. However, EBR24 detoxified the IWD stress effects and enhanced all the above-mentioned parameters. The evaluated hybrids varied in drought tolerance; Giza-168 was the best under moderate drought, while Fine-276 was the best under severe drought. Under IWD, certain physiological traits exhibited a highly positive association with yield and yield-contributing traits or CWP. Thus, exogenously using EBR24 for these hybrids could be an effective approach to improve plant and water productivity under reduced available water in semi-arid environments.


1982 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 531 ◽  
Author(s):  
DA Grantz ◽  
AE Hall

Earliness of an indeterminate crop, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., was studied to aid development of selection techniques for improving adaptation to semiarid environments. Earliness was based upon the time of first appearance of floral buds and flowers, proportion of shoot dry matter in reproductive parts at midseason, and time of maturity. A cowpea land race, Chino 3, was earlier than cultivars California Blackeye No. 3 and No. 5, with respect to all of these criteria. Time to flowering from different sowing dates was related to heat units, which were calculated from daily mean air temperature above a base temperature of c. 10�C. The proportions of shoot dry matter in reproductive parts during early stages of pod-filling were greater with moderate drought but were unaffected by severe drought, compared with the response of adequately irrigated plants. Widely spaced plants exhibited greater proportions of shoot dry matter in reproductive parts at midseason than did closely spaced plants. Adaptation of cowpeas to semiarid environments may be improved by selecting for early partitioning of carbohydrates to reproductive parts. Selection for early partitioning may be more effective in adequately watered conditions, owing to extreme variability under drought, and at wide and precise spacing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsayed Mansour ◽  
Hany A. M. Mahgoub ◽  
Samir A. Mahgoub ◽  
El-Sayed E. A. El-Sobky ◽  
Mohamed I. Abdul-Hamid ◽  
...  

AbstractWater deficit has devastating impacts on legume production, particularly with the current abrupt climate changes in arid environments. The application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is an effective approach for producing natural nitrogen and attenuating the detrimental effects of drought stress. This study investigated the influence of inoculation with the PGPR Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae (USDA 2435) and Pseudomonas putida (RA MTCC5279) solely or in combination on the physio-biochemical and agronomic traits of five diverse Vicia faba cultivars under well-watered (100% crop evapotranspiration [ETc]), moderate drought (75% ETc), and severe drought (50% ETc) conditions in newly reclaimed poor-fertility sandy soil. Drought stress substantially reduced the expression of photosynthetic pigments and water relation parameters. In contrast, antioxidant enzyme activities and osmoprotectants were considerably increased in plants under drought stress compared with those in well-watered plants. These adverse effects of drought stress reduced crop water productivity (CWP) and seed yield‐related traits. However, the application of PGPR, particularly a consortium of both strains, improved these parameters and increased seed yield and CWP. The evaluated cultivars displayed varied tolerance to drought stress: Giza-843 and Giza-716 had the highest tolerance under well-watered and moderate drought conditions, whereas Giza-843 and Sakha-4 were more tolerant under severe drought conditions. Thus, co-inoculation of drought-tolerant cultivars with R. leguminosarum and P. putida enhanced their tolerance and increased their yield and CWP under water-deficit stress conditions. This study showed for the first time that the combined use of R. leguminosarum and P. putida is a promising and ecofriendly strategy for increasing drought tolerance in legume crops.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Wankmüller ◽  
Mohsen Zarebanadkouki ◽  
Andrea Carminati

<p>Predicting plant responses to drought is a long-standing research goal. Since stomata regulate gas-exchange between plants and the atmosphere, understanding their response to drought is fundamental. Current predictions of stomatal behavior during drought mainly rely on empirical models. These models may suit well to a specific set of plant traits and environmental growth conditions, but their predictive value is doubtful when atmospheric and soil conditions change. Stomatal optimization offers an alternative framework to predict stomatal regulation in response to drought for varying environmental conditions and plant traits. Models which apply this optimization principle posit that stomata maximize the carbon gain in relation to a penalty caused by water loss, such as xylem cavitation. Optimization models have the advantage of requiring a limited number of parameters and have been successfully used to predict stomatal response to drought for varying environmental conditions and species. However, a mechanism that enables stomata to optimally close in response to water limitations, and more precisely to a drop in the ability of the soil-plant continuum to sustain the transpiration demand, is not known. Here, we propose a model of stomatal regulation that is linked to abscisic acid (ABA) dynamics (production, degradation and transport) and that allows plants to avoid excessive drops in leaf water potential during soil drying and increasing vapor pressure deficit (VPD). The model assumes that: 1) stomatal conductance (g<sub>s</sub>) decreases when ABA concentration close to the guard cells (C<sub>ABA</sub>) increases; 2) C<sub>ABA</sub> increases with decreasing leaf water potential (due to higher production); and 3) C<sub>ABA</sub> decreases with increasing photosynthesis (e.g. due to faster degradation or transport to the phloem). Our model includes simulations of leaf water potential based on transpiration rate, soil water potential and variable hydraulic conductances of key elements (rhizosphere, root and xylem), and a function linking stomatal conductance to assimilation. It was tested for different soil properties and VPD. The model predicts that stomata close when the relation between assimilation and leaf water potential becomes nonlinear. In wet soil conditions and low VPD, when there is no water limitation, this nonlinearity is controlled by the relation between stomatal conductance and assimilation. In dry soil conditions, when the soil hydraulic conductivity limits the water supply, nonlinearity is controlled by the excessive drop of leaf water potential for increasing transpiration rates. The model predicts different relations between stomatal conductance and leaf water potential for varying soil properties and VPD. For instance, the closure of stomata is more abrupt in sandy soil, reflecting the steep decrease in hydraulic conductivity of sandy soils. In summary, our model results in an optimal behavior, in which stomatal closure avoids excessive (nonlinear) decrease in leaf water potential, similar to other stomatal optimization models. As based on ABA concentration which increases with decreasing leaf water potential but declines with assimilation, this model is a preliminary attempt to link optimization models to a physiological mechanism.</p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhang Liu ◽  
Zhongqun He ◽  
Yongdong Xie ◽  
Lihong Su ◽  
Ruijie Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the growth, physiological changes and mechanism of drought resistance of Phedimus aizoon L. under different levels of water content .CK: 75% ~ 80% of the MWHC (maximum water holding capacity), Mild drought: 55% ~ 60%, Moderate drought: 40% ~ 45%, Severe drought: 20% ~ 25%.We observed that the plants grew normally in the first two treatments, even the mild drought promoted the growth of the roots. In the last two treatments, drought stress had a significant negative effect on plant growth, at the same time, Phedimus aizoon L. also made positive physiological response to cope with the drought: The aboveground part of the plant (leaf, plant height, stem diameter) was smaller, the waxy layer of the leaves was thickened, the stomata of the leaves were closed during the day, and only a few stomata were opened at night, which proved that the dark reaction cycle metabolism mode of the plant was transformed from C3 cycle to CAM pathway. The activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD and CAT) was continuously increased to alleviate the damage caused by drought. To ensure the relative stability of osmotic potential, the contents of osmoregulation substances such as proline, soluble sugar, soluble protein and trehalose increased correspondingly. But plants have limited regulatory power, with aggravation of drought stress degree and extension of stress time, the MDA content and electrolyte leakage of leaves increased continuously. Observed under electron microscope,the morphology of chloroplast and mitochondria changed and the membrane structure was destroyed. The plant's photosynthetic and respiratory mechanisms are destroyed and the plant gradually die.


Author(s):  
Apisit Eiumnoh ◽  
Rajendra P. Shrestha

Thailand is located between 5°30' and 20°30'N latitudes and between 97°30' and 105°30'E longitudes. Geographically, the country can be divided into northern, northeastern, central, and southern regions. Most of the country experiences distinct wet and dry climates, except some parts of the southern region, which experience a wet and humid climate. Of the country’s total area (514,000 km2), 41% is under agricultural use (Office of Agricultural Economics, 1999) with 92% of it being rainfed. Drought normally occurs during the hot season (March–April) and sometimes during dry season (November–April) due to inadequate rains. In recent times, the occurrence of drought has increased in Thailand, threatening sustainability of agricultural production. According to Department of Local Administration (1998), droughts of varying intensity occur in 67 out of 76 provinces of Thailand almost every year. During the period from 1987 to 1997, drought impacted a total of 5.44 million ha of agricultural land, causing $1.4 billion in losses. Droughts of varying intensity or severity occur in different regions of Thailand. A drought is categorized as severe, moderate, slight, or none drought using a radiative index (RI) determined during the rainy season (May– October). The RI for a region is determined using the number of rainy days, percentage of irrigated area, groundwater availability, topography, land use, soil, drainage density, and watershed size. If RI ranges from 1.0 to 1.2 for 15 consecutive days for a region or area, the region is said to be affected by slight drought. If RI exceeds 1.2 for 30 consecutive days, the region is considered to be affected by moderate drought, and if RI exceeds 1.0 for more than 30 consecutive days, severe drought is said to have occurred in the region. Using these criteria, the percentage of area affected by different drought categories has been determined in Thailand. It can be observed from table 25.1 that the northeastern region is the most droughtprone in Thailand. A drought index, D, is also used to monitor drought conditions in Thailand.


1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 2459-2466 ◽  
Author(s):  
George J. Harper ◽  
Edith L. Camm

Nursery grown seedlings of Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss were stored frozen in the dark from approximately 10–31 weeks, thawed and grown for 28 days in a growth chamber at three soil temperatures (3, 7, and 11 °C). During the growing period gas exchange measurements were made every three days. Seedling net photosynthesis (pn) and stomatal conductance (gs) showed significant interactions between soil temperature and storage duration treatments. Soil temperature did not affect seedling gs or pn, though the degree and extent of storage duration effects were dependent on soil temperature. Recovery of gs occurred over a 4–7 day period from low levels after planting. Seedlings stored longer than 22 weeks showed lower rates of pn, than those stored for shorter durations. The lower pn in long-stored seedlings did not result from stomatal limitations to carbon fixation, as gs increased in seedlings stored >22 weeks.


1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1385-1396 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.C. Grossnickle ◽  
J.E. Major

Interior spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss × Piceaengelmannii Parry) seedlings and emblings produced through somatic embryogenesis tissue culture were removed from frozen storage and tested with a stock quality assessment procedure prior to spring planting. Seedlings, compared with emblings, had greater height as well as shoot and root dry weights. Seedlings and emblings had similar root-collar diameter, buds per total shoot length, and needle primordia in their terminal buds. Seedlings and emblings had similar shoot form (i.e., branch quotient) and balance between their shoot and root system (i.e., plant water balance ratio). Emblings, compared with seedlings, had a lower osmotic potential at turgor loss point and symplastic fraction, plus a higher dry weight fraction and total turgor. Seedlings and emblings had similar osmotic potential at saturation and relative water content at turgor loss point. Seedlings and emblings had similar resistance to water movement through the plant–atmosphere continuum (Rpac) at 22 °C root temperature, though emblings had greater Rpac at 7.5 °C root temperature. Seedlings had greater net photosynthesis (Pn) than emblings over a 14-day period at both 7.5 and 22 °C root temperatures. Seedlings, compared with emblings, had greater root development over a 14-day period at 22 °C root temperature, though they had low and similar root development at 7.5 °C root temperature. Both Pn and needle conductance (gwv) decreased as predawn shoot water potential (Ψpd) declined in seedlings and emblings. Nearly complete stomatal closure occurred at Ψpd less than −1.5 MPa, while similarly low Pn readings (seedlings: −0.01 ± 0.04 μmol•m−2•s−1; emblings: 0.02 + 0.04 μmol•m−2•s−1) occurred between a Ψpd of −1.0 and −2.0 MPa. A performance potential index (PPI), which combines material and performance attributes in a comprehensive characterization of field performance potential, indicated that seedlings had a better PPI under optimum environmental conditions. However, seedlings and emblings had similar PPI under low temperature and drought conditions.


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