Manipulation of light spectrum can improve the performance of photosynthetic apparatus of strawberry plants growing under salt and alkalinity stress.

Majid Esmaeilizadeh,Hamid Reza Roosta,Hazem M Kalaji,Piotr Dąbrowski,Jacek Wróbel,Andrzej Zieliński,Mohammad Reza Malekzadeh Shamsabad,Marcin Rapacz,Mehdi Rahimi

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0261585

Abstract

Strawberry is one of the plants sensitive to salt and alkalinity stress. Light quality affects plant growth and metabolic activities. However, there is no clear answer in the literature on how light can improve the performance of the photosynthetic apparatus of this species under salt and alkalinity stress. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of different spectra of supplemental light on strawberry (cv. Camarosa) under salt and alkalinity stress conditions. Light spectra of blue (with peak 460 nm), red (with peak 660 nm), blue/red (1:3), white/yellow (1:1) (400–700 nm) and ambient light were used as control. There were three stress treatments: control (no stress), alkalinity (40 mM NaHCO3), and salinity (80 mM NaCl). Under stress conditions, red and red/blue light had a positive effect on CO2 assimilation. In addition, blue/red light increased intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi) under both stress conditions. Salinity and alkalinity stress decreased OJIP curves compared to the control treatment. Blue light caused an increase in its in plants under salinity stress, and red and blue/red light caused an increase in its in plants under alkalinity. Both salt and alkalinity stress caused a significant reduction in photosystem II (PSII) performance indices and quantum yield parameters. Adjustment of light spectra, especially red light, increased these parameters. It can be concluded that the adverse effects of salt and alkalinity stress on photosynthesis can be partially alleviated by changing the light spectra.

Highlights

Light is the plant’s primary energy supply, which stimulates various responses
In alkalinity stress, red light had a significant effect on the CO2 assimilation parameter, and other light treatments had no significant effect on CO2 assimilation
Parameters of stomatal conductance and transpiration rate (E) were affected significantly by stress and different light spectra, and they decreased under stress conditions compared to the control

Summary

Introduction

Light is the plant’s primary energy supply, which stimulates various responses. It is a major environmental factor that affects the control of plant growth and development [1]. Light spectrum can improve the performance of photosynthesis of strawberry plants growing under stress growth and development need light with sufficient intensity, buy quality [2]. Plants respond to changes in the quality of light by morphological, biochemical, and physiological changes Such responses lead to an adjustment of the growth rate by changes in the environment’s energy availability [3]. The effects of different spectrum of complementary light on growing plants, nutritional content, and stress resistance have many practical horticultural consequences. Still, favorable outcomes, such as stress tolerance, resulting from applying a different spectrum of complementary lights, have not yet been shown. To better understand the mechanism of tolerance of plants to environmental stress in different light spectra, it is important to study the species, and the varieties

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