English

Abstract

The leaf hydraulic behavior has a significant role on species survival because plants often encounter drought. The effect of age and drought on the leaf water potential (ѰL), leaf hydraulic conductance (KL), stomatal density (SD) and size (SS), evapotranspiration (E), net photosynthetic rate (Pn) stomatal conductance (gs) and their post drought recovery in naked oat is not understood. This study investigated these facts in two naked oat cultivars, Yanmai (Ym) and Dingyou7 (Dy7). The plants were grown in pots and kept well-watered (WW) for the first ~30 days after sowing (DAS) after that for Experiment 1) the plants were kept in a rainout shelter; in a growth room and kept WW throughout. Experiment 2) the plants were grown at 40% drought to determine the effect of drought on the SD and SS. Experiment 3) the plants were grown in 40% field water capacity (FC) for ~25 days then, they were recovered from drought stress and ѰL, KL, SS, SD, E, Pn, and gs were determined. Under the drought, Ym lost KL whereas; Dy7 could maintain KL and higher midday ѰL and lower SD than Ym. The cultivar Dy7 showed maximum recovery of KL, ѰL, Pn, gs and E than Ym upon re-watering. The loss and recovery of KL, ѰL, Pn, E, gs and SD is controlled genetically in naked oat cultivars in combination with the environmental factors and the cultivar Dy7 has potential to enhance drought resistance in crops plants by genetic crop breeding. © 2021 Friends Science Publishers