Dry Matter Accumulation in Underground Organs of Konjak Plant as Affected by Photosynthate Production.

Abstract

Experiments were conducted to examine if the increase in the dry weight of underground organs of a Konjak plant is regulated by photosynthate production. The reduction of leaf area by removing petiolules suppressed the increase in the dry weight of underground organs of the Konjak plant. The rate of dry weight increase of underground organs per leaf area was nearly the same regardless of the leaf area, and it was 0.2 g dm-2 week-1. The shading treatment increased the leaf area 1.5 times at the relative light intensity of 15% and suppressed the dry weight of underground organs at the relative light intensity of 25% and below, the dry weight was maintained at the same level of a control plot at the relative light intensity more than 50%. The dry weight was increased 1.5 times in a whole plant, and underground organs were compared with a control plot by 14 hours of light irradiation ( 16 kLx, from 18 : 00 to 8 : 00) at night for 43 days. Thus dry matter accumulation in the underground organs of the Konjak plant is affected by photosynthate production.