Transpiration Response to Vapor Pressure Deficit in Field Grown Peanut

Abstract

Water deficit, i.e., rainfall amounts and distribution, is the most common abiotic stress that limits peanut production worldwide. Even though extensive research efforts have been made to improve drought tolerance in peanut, performance of genotypes largely depends upon the environment in which they grow. Based on greenhouse experiments, it has been hypothesized that stomata closure under high vapor pressure deficit (VPD) is a mechanism of soil water conservation and it has been shown that genotypic variation for the response of transpiration rate to VPD in peanut exists. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between stomatal conductance (g s ) and VPD for field grown peanut in Virginia-Carolina (VC) rainfed environments. In 2009, thirty virginia-type peanut cultivars and advanced breeding lines were evaluated for g s at several times before and after rain events, including a moisture stress episode. In 2010, eighteen genotypes were evaluated for g s under soil water deficit. In 2009, VPD ranged from 1.3 to 4.2 kPa and in 2010 from 1.78 to 3.57 kPa. Under water deficit, genotype and year showed a significant effect on g s (P 5 0.0001), but the genotype 3 year interaction did not. During the water deficit episodes while recorded g s values were relatively high, g s was negatively related to VPD (R 2 5 0.57, n 5 180 in 2009; R 2 5 0.47, n 5 108 in 2010), suggesting that stomata closure is indeed a water conservation mechanism for field grown peanut. However, a wide range of slopes among genotype were observed in both years. Genotypes with significant negative relationships of g s and VPD under water deficit in both years were Florida Fancy, Gregory, N04074FCT, NC-V11, and VA-98R. While Florida Fancy, Gregory, and NC-V11 are known to be high yielding cultivars, VA-98R and line N04074FCT are not. The benefit of stomatal closure during drought episodes in the VC environments is further discussed in this paper.Key Words: Peanut, stomatal conductance, transpiration, vapor pressure deficit.In the Virginia-Carolina (VC) area, peanut is an important cash crop. According to the United Nations Conference on Desertification (UNEP, 1992), this region is characterized as a moist subhumid to humid region. This classification is based on the climatic aridity index: P/ETP, where P is annual precipitation and ETP is annual potential evapotranspiration calculated by the method of Penman (Doorenbos and Pruitt, 1977). Under historically moist conditions, over 90% of the current peanut farming is rainfed in the VC area. However, increased frequency and intensity of dry spells were recently observed due to uneven precipitation distribution during the summer months with negative effects on peanut yield and quality in the VC region. To increase peanut production under rainfed cropping systems in dry years, peanut cultivars with more effective use of water need to be developed for this region.In peanut (Devi et al., 2010) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] (Fletcher et al., 2007;Sinclair et al., 2008;Sado...

Photosynthetic capacity and water use efficiency in Ricinus communis (L.) under drought stress in semi-humid and semi-arid areas

“…In this study, we observed similar variation of the VPD (leaf-air) in plants in both regions, with a peak above 5.0 KPa at 12:00 p.m. At this hour, plants in the semi-arid region showed an inverse correlation between VPD (leaf-air) and stomatal conductance, transpiration, and photosynthesis, which must have been influenced by high temperatures and low soil water availability on the site, these factors probably, increased the effect of VPD (leaf-air) in stomatal closure and consequent reduction in transpiration to prevent water loss. Similar results were also found in different cultures, such as sugar-apples (Endres 2007), peanuts (Balota et al 2012), and purging nut (Santos et al 2013), in which, in studies conducted during the dry season, the authors also found that the increase in vapor pressure deficit in the early afternoon negatively influenced the stomatal conductance in these species.…”

Differential Physiological and Metabolic Responses to Drought Stress of Peanut Cultivars and Breeding Lines

“…Eight virginia-type peanut genotypes including commercial cultivars (Bailey, CHAMPS, and Phillips) and advanced breeding lines (N04074FCT, N05006, N05008, N05024J, and SPT 06-07) were selected from the Peanut Variety and Quality Evaluation (PVQE) program based on earlier field evaluations and contrasting leaf gas exchange patterns in response to water stress and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) (Balota et al, 2012a(Balota et al, , 2012b. Eight virginia-type peanut genotypes including commercial cultivars (Bailey, CHAMPS, and Phillips) and advanced breeding lines (N04074FCT, N05006, N05008, N05024J, and SPT 06-07) were selected from the Peanut Variety and Quality Evaluation (PVQE) program based on earlier field evaluations and contrasting leaf gas exchange patterns in response to water stress and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) (Balota et al, 2012a(Balota et al, , 2012b.…”

“…Experiments were conducted on a Eunola loamy fine sand soil (fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Aquic Hapludult) at the Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Suffolk, VA (36°68′N, 76°77′W; 25-m elevation) in 2011 and 2012 under rainfed and irrigated field conditions. Eight virginia-type peanut genotypes including commercial cultivars (Bailey, CHAMPS, and Phillips) and advanced breeding lines (N04074FCT, N05006, N05008, N05024J, and SPT 06-07) were selected from the Peanut Variety and Quality Evaluation (PVQE) program based on earlier field evaluations and contrasting leaf gas exchange patterns in response to water stress and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) (Balota et al, 2012a(Balota et al, , 2012b. In earlier studies, Phillips, Bailey, and N05024J showed high and CHAMPS, N04047FCT, N05006, and N05008 low stomatal conductance and CO 2 assimilation under water deficit stress in the field.…”

Leaf stomatal traits variation within and among fourteen European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) provenances

“…In those terms, species with more effective stomatal control are expected to have a higher chance of survival in the upcoming climate change (HAWORTH et al, 2011). Another strategy of plants pressured by unfavorable conditions is facilitated through stomata behavior, which presents a short turn-reaction when experiencing drought stress (LUAN, 2002;MARTIN-STPAUL et al, 2017), salinity (MUNNS and TESTER, 2008;SOLMAZ et al, 2011), a high CO2 concentration (YOUNG et al, 2006;ENGINEER et al, 2014) or a vapor pressure deficit (BALOTA et al, 2012;MCADAM et al, 2016). For instance, when in water deficit, plants can react by closing their stomata when water supply is limited (ZWIENIECKI et al, 2016).…”