Early detection of drought stress in tomato plants with chlorophyll fluorescence imaging–practical application of the speaking plant approach in a greenhouse–

Abstract

AbstractThe chlorophyll fluorescence imaging technique is useful for evaluating photosynthetic functions of plants without actually touching the plant. In our previous study, we developed a chlorophyll fluorescence imaging system for tomato plants cultivated in greenhouses. This imaging system measures the chlorophyll fluorescence induction phenomenon, a dynamic change in chlorophyll fluorescence intensity induced by illuminating a dark-adapted leaf with a stable intensity excitation light, and analyzes the shape of the induction curve, i.e., the temporal course of chlorophyll fluorescence intensity during this phenomenon. The shape of the induction curve is characterized by an initial maximum peak (P), subsequent transient dip (S), and secondary small peak (M). We defined an index, the photosynthetic function index (PFI; fluorescence intensity of P divided by the average fluorescence intensity from S to M), to evaluate the shape of the induction curve. In this study, we applied this system to detect drought stress in tomato plants cultivated in a semi-commercial greenhouse. PFI was clearly lower in stressed plants than in healthy plants. The decreased PFI in stressed plants is probably attributable to photosynthetic dysfunction in these plants.