Abstract
<p>It has been reported that soil temperature modulates the growth and quality of many leafy vegetables and some fruit vegetables; however, this effect has not been sufficiently reported for strawberry plants. Here using a deep flow technique hydroponic system, we investigated the effect of various root-zone temperatures (10 °C, 20 °C, and 30 °C) on the plant growth and fruit quality of strawberry plants grown at an air temperature of 20 °C. The high root-zone temperature treatment (30 °C) decreased oxygen consumption and cell viability of the roots, resulting in withering of most of the plants after 2 months of treatment. In contrast, roots exposed to low temperature (10 °C) showed higher biomass production than those exposed to ambient condition (20 °C), whereas leaf growth was only slightly influenced. The biomass of reproductive organs, such as inflorescences and fruits, were increased in plants treated with a low root-zone temperature, suggesting the activation of reproductive growth by low temperature. However, the contents of ascorbic acid and sugar in fruits were not significantly influenced by the cooling of the root-zone, although the fruit maturation period was significantly prolonged by low temperature. These data indicate that manipulation of root-zone temperature could alter the vegetative and reproductive growth of hydroponically grown strawberry plants.</p>
Highlights
Plant growth and development are affected by various environmental factors, including light and temperature (Fankhauser & Chory, 1997; Porter & Gawith, 1997)
Strawberry plants acclimated to deep flow technique (DFT) hydroponics at 20 °C root-zone temperature were transferred to three different root-zone temperature conditions (10 °C, 20 °C, and 30 °C)
The high root-zone temperature treatment induced plant withering within 2 months (Table 1) or decreased the chlorophyll content as expressed by the soil-plant analyses development (SPAD) value (Figure 3D)
Summary
Plant growth and development are affected by various environmental factors, including light and temperature (Fankhauser & Chory, 1997; Porter & Gawith, 1997). Because flower bud induction of June-bearing cultivars can occur in response to a longer photoperiod if the temperature is generally under 15 °C (Sonsteby, 1997), the thermal condition might be a more fundamental factor in regulating strawberry fruit production. The development and quality of strawberry fruits are influenced by the air temperature (Kumakura et al, 1994a, 1994b; Miura et al, 1994; Wang & Camp, 2000). Low air temperature conditions after flower blooming prolonged the fruit maturation period and increased sugar content in fruits (Kumakura et al, 1994a; Wang & Camp, 2000). Fruit size was increased by low air temperature during the period of flower bud initiation (Mori, 1998). High air temperatures reduced the size of strawberry fruits and decreased the fruit anthocyanin production (Ikeda et al, 2011)
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