Ultraviolet (UV) B effects on growth and yield of three contrasting sweet potato cultivars

Abstract

Ground-level UV-B will stay at a high level in the next several decades and influence sweet potato growth and yield because of the remaining chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. The study explored three UV-B (none, ambient, and elevated/projected) levels on three contrasting sweet potato cultivars (Beauregard, Hatteras, and Louisiana 1188) using sunlit plant growth chambers at Mississippi State University. The results showed that UV-B influenced three cultivars differently. Growth, photosynthetic rate, epidermal and leaf structure of Beauregard were negatively influenced under ambient and elevated UV-B. On the contrary, Hatteras was positively influenced, and Louisiana 1188 was influenced by elevated UV-B positively on leaf thickness and waxes content, but negatively on the vine length, dry mass, and leaf area. In summary, Beauregard, Louisiana 1188, and Hatteras were UV-B sensitive, moderately sensitive, and tolerant, respectively. Developing UV-B tolerant cultivars will benefit under both current and projected UV-B exposures.

Effects of Ultraviolet-B Radiation in Plant Physiology

“…Increasing the dermal tissue thickness, which blocks and prevents the harmful UV-B from reaching the photosynthetically active mesophyll (Rozema et al 1997;Kakani et al 2003;Qi et al 2003;Rai & Agrawal 2017;Neugart & Schreiner 2018). In addition to increasing wax production and/or the number of trichomes on the surface of some plants (Skaltsa et al 1994;Barnes et al 1996;Liakoura et al 1997;Long et al 2003;Chen et al 2020).…”

Sunlit, controlled‐environment chambers are essential for comparing plant responses to various climates

“…However, SPAR systems can also be adopted to include more than just fundamental temperatures and CO 2 concentration effects (V. Gajanayake, Reddy, Shankle, Arancibia, & Villordon, 2014;Reddy, Reddy, & Acock, 1994a). They can be used for combinations including other variables such as (a) UV-B radiation (Chen et al, 2020;K. Reddy et al, 2013;Surabhi, Reddy, & Singh, 2009); (b) drought stress (Gajanayake & Reddy, 2016;Lokhande & Reddy, 2014;Wijewardana, Reddy, & Bellaloui, 2019); (c) nutrient stress (K. Reddy, Koti, Davidonis, & Reddy, 2004;Singh, Barnaby, Reddy, & Sicher, 2016;Singh, Reddy, Fleisher, & Timlin, 2014); (d) root studies (V. Jumaa, Redoña, Walker, Gao, & Reddy, 2019;K.…”

“…However, SPAR systems can also be adopted to include more than just fundamental temperatures and CO 2 concentration effects (V. Gajanayake, Reddy, Shankle, Arancibia, & Villordon, 2014; Reddy, Reddy, & Acock, 1994a). They can be used for combinations including other variables such as (a) UV‐B radiation (Chen et al., 2020; K. Reddy et al., 2013; Surabhi, Reddy, & Singh, 2009); (b) drought stress (Gajanayake & Reddy, 2016; Lokhande & Reddy, 2014; Wijewardana, Reddy, & Bellaloui, 2019); (c) nutrient stress (K. Reddy, Koti, Davidonis, & Reddy, 2004; Singh, Barnaby, Reddy, & Sicher, 2016; Singh, Reddy, Fleisher, & Timlin, 2014); (d) root studies (V. Jumaa, Redoña, Walker, Gao, & Reddy, 2019; K. Reddy, Brand, Wijewardana, & Gao, 2017; Reddy, Reddy, Acock, & Trent, 1994b; Reddy, Reddy, & Wang, 1997; Singh et al., 2017; Wijewardana, Hock, Henry, & Reddy, 2015), (e) multi‐stress and interactions (V. Reddy, Reddy, & Acock, 1995; Wijewardana, Henry, Gao, & Reddy, 2016). Furthermore, SPAR systems have been used for (f) genetic variability studies (Awasthi, Reddy, Saha, Jenkins, & Stelly, 2018; Singh, Kakani, Surabhi, & Reddy, 2010); (g) integrated models (Doherty, Mearns, Reddy, Downton, & Daniel, 2003; Liang et al., 2012); (h) and different types of vegetation beyond just grain crops (and for support of development and predictions from integrated crop models such as bioenergy crops (Kakani et al., 2008a), cotton (K. Reddy et al., 2017), and root crops (Gajanayake et al., 2014).…”

Drought, Low Nitrogen Stress, and Ultraviolet-B Radiation Effects on Growth, Development, and Physiology of Sweetpotato Cultivars during Early Season

“…In the field, the occurrence of single-stress conditions is rare. Combined stress factors at the early vegetative stage affect several morphological, physiological, and biochemical processes in the plants, such as plant vigor, plant growth rate, assimilate partitioning, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, translocation, leaf nitrogen, sink strength, and nutrient metabolism [ 15 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. Recent studies reported that early-season abiotic stress determines root initiation, and mid- and late-season stresses determine biomass and yield in sweetpotatoes [ 13 , 36 ].…”

“…However, the conversion rate can be affected by abiotic stress, and plants often produce pencil roots rather than storage roots. So far, very few studies have reported the effect of DS and UV-B at early crop establishment on storage root initiation and development with only two to three cultivars [ 33 , 35 ].…”