Abstract
Artificial light supplementation is widely used in modern agriculture. Due to their numerous advantages, light emitting diodes (LEDs) are widely used to effectively increase the yield or control the development of crops. In the present study, the effects of supplementary morning lighting (SML) with LEDs on the physiology and stomatal characteristics of strawberry plants were studied, with the aim of awakening the plant guard cells before sunrise and enabling strawberry plants to efficiently photosynthesize immediately after sunrise. Young daughter plants of ‘Maehyang’ and ‘Seolhyang’ strawberry cultivars that have just rooted were grown under LEDs with different wavelengths—white (W), red (R), mixed blue and red (BR, 1:1), and blue (B)—to investigate the effects of the SML on the physiology, stomatal characteristics, and growth. The SML was provided for 2 h at an intensity of 100 μmol·m−2·s−1 PPFD before sunrise every morning. A group without supplementary lighting was set as the control. The results showed that the different SML qualities have significantly affected the stomatal characteristics. The B SML promoted the stomatal opening more effectively compared to the other SMLs. The stomatal conductance and quantum yield (Fv/Fm) of leaves treated with the SMLs were higher than those of the control group. The B and BR SMLs most significantly affected the stomatal conductance and quantum yield (Fv/Fm). After 30 days of the SML treatments, it was observed that the B SML effectively improved the plant quality, chlorophyll content, and carbohydrate accumulation in the two strawberry cultivars. In general, a short-term exposure to blue light before sunrise can effectively improve the quality and promote the production of strawberry plants.
Highlights
Strawberry, native to South America, was first bred in France and has since become a very valuable crop
For ‘Seolhyang’, there was no significant difference in the stomatal size when treated with the B and BR supplementary morning lighting (SML), the values of which were higher than those of plants treated with the R and W SMLs
The length and width measurements of the guard cells showed that the SML had no significant effects on the width but affected the length of the guard cells
Summary
Strawberry, native to South America, was first bred in France and has since become a very valuable crop. It is widely grown in the Republic of Korea, China, Europe, the United States, Japan, and other countries. The cultivation area and production of strawberry in the Republic of Korea are 5978 ha and 191,218 tons, respectively. The Republic of Korea has become the world’s sixth largest producer of strawberry [1]. In the Republic of Korea, strawberry was mainly cultivated in fields in the. 1980s, which has since gradually transitioned to protected cultivation. By 2017, protected strawberry cultivation in the Republic of Korea accounted for 97.9% of the total cultivation area [2]. Gyeongnam is Plants 2020, 9, 638; doi:10.3390/plants9050638 www.mdpi.com/journal/plants
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