Effects of water stress and rewatering on photosynthesis, root activity, and yield of cotton with drip irrigation under mulch

Abstract

Soil water deficit is a major limitation to agricultural productivity in arid regions. Leaf photosynthesis can quickly recover after rewatering and remain at a higher level for a longer period, thus increasing crop yield and water-use efficiency (WUE). We tested our hypothesis that leaf photosynthesis and root activity of water stressed cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plants could quickly recover after rewatering at a certain growth stage and it should not influence a cotton yield but increase WUE. Treatments in this study included two degrees of water stress [V 1 (mild water stress) and V 2 (moderate water stress)] imposed at one of four cotton growth stages [S 1 (full budding to early flowering stage), S 2 (early flowering to full flowering), S 3 (full flowering to full bolling), and S 4 (full bolling to boll opening)]. The soil water content before and after the water stress was the same as that in the control treatment (CK, 70-75% of field capacity). The results indicated that water deficit significantly reduced leaf water potential, net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance of cotton. The extent of the decline was greater in S 2 V 2 treatment compared to others. Water deficit also reduced root activity, but the extent of inhibition varied in dependence on soil depth and duration. When plants were subjected to S 1 V 1 , root activity in the 20-100 cm depth recovered rapidly and even exceeded the CK one day after rewatering. An overcompensation response was observed for both photosynthesis and above ground dry mass within one to three days after rewatering. Compared with the CK, S 1 V 1 showed no significant effect on the yield but increased total water-use efficiency and irrigation water-use efficiency. These results suggest that even a short-term water stress during the full squaring to flowering stages and full bolling to boll opening stages mitigates, with respect to root activity, the negative effect of drought and enhances leaf photosynthesis compensatory effects of rewatering in order to increase cotton WUE with drip irrigation under mulch in arid areas.

UPLC‐HRMS‐based untargeted metabolic profiling reveals changes in chickpea (Cicer arietinum) metabolome following long‐term drought stress

“…Asterisk represents significant difference in mz/rt peak between sensitive (G1) and tolerant (G2) varieties under the drought condition at a specific time point of samplingPereira, 2016;Cielniak, Filek, & Cielniak, 2006;J. Li et al, 2017;Luo, Zhang, & Zhang, 2016;Ullah, Sun, Yang, & Zhang, 2017;Zhou et al, 2017). Our results are aligned with other reported studies and demonstrated that the experimental condition separated the expression of these traits between the tolerant and sensitive varieties.…”

“…However, the sensitive variety showed greater F v / F m reduction than the tolerant variety. Some other studies also demonstrated a significant reduction of photosynthetic capacity and chlorophyll content due to stress condition (Basu, Ramegowda, Kumar, & Pereira, ; Cielniak, Filek, & Cielniak, ; J. Li et al, ; Luo, Zhang, & Zhang, ; Ullah, Sun, Yang, & Zhang, ; Zhou et al, ). Our results are aligned with other reported studies and demonstrated that the experimental condition separated the expression of these traits between the tolerant and sensitive varieties.…”

Cotton Root Morphology and Dry Matter Accumulation at Different Film Removal Times

“…Research findings suggest that severe aridity can cause the dry weight of roots, root volume (Anbessa and Bejiga, 2002), and RLD of fine roots (Steinemann et al, 2015) to decrease, with a smaller average root diameter (Wang, 2007) and a decrease in root activity (Luo et al, 2016). In this paper, the excessive moisture stress caused by premature film removal resulted in significantly lower RLDs (Fig.…”

A review: Morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular plant responses to water deficit stress

“…In fact, limitation of leaf growth is among the earliest visible impacts of water stress because leaves determine radiation interception and are the main photosynthetic organs [8]. Water deficit stress mostly reduced leaf water potential and growth and in turn the leaf areas in many species and leaf senescence could be observed under severe water stress [9,10,11]. In DOI : 10.9790/1813-0601010104 www.theijes.com Page 2 fact, development of optimal leaf area is important to photosynthesis and dry matter yield.…”