Waterlogging Causes Early Modification in the Physiological Performance, Carotenoids, Chlorophylls, Proline, and Soluble Sugars of Cucumber Plants.

T Casey Barickman,Catherine R Simpson,Carl E Sams

doi:10.3390/plants8060160

Abstract

Waterlogging occurs because of poor soil drainage and/or excessive rainfall and is a serious abiotic stress affecting plant growth because of declining oxygen supplied to submerged tissues. Although cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is sensitive to waterlogging, its ability to generate adventitious roots facilitates gas diffusion and increases plant survival when oxygen concentrations are low. To understand the physiological responses to waterlogging, a 10-day waterlogging experiment was conducted. The objective of this study was to measure the photosynthetic and key metabolites of cucumber plants under waterlogging conditions for 10 days. Plants were also harvested at the end of 10 days and analyzed for plant height (ht), leaf number and area, fresh mass (FM), dry mass (DM), chlorophyll (Chl), carotenoid (CAR), proline, and soluble sugars. Results indicated that cucumber plants subjected to the 10-day waterlogging stress conditions were stunted, had fewer leaves, and decreased leaf area, FM, and DM. There were differences in physiological performance, Chl, CAR, proline, and soluble sugars. Overall, waterlogging stress decreased net photosynthesis (A), having a negative effect on biomass accumulation. However, these decreases were also dependent on other factors, such as plant size, morphology, and water use efficiency (WUE) that played a role in the overall metabolism of the plant.

Highlights

Agricultural crops can be subjected to soil waterlogging, a major abiotic stress, caused by excessive precipitation and poor soil drainage, which can dramatically reduce the plant’s physiological performance, yield, and fruit quality
During the study, waterlogging of cucumber plants over 10 days induced several physiological changes, including reduction of growth, fresh mass (FM) and dry mass (DM), and photosynthesis when compared to the non-waterlogged treated cucumber plants
The current study reveals the physiological difference between waterlogged and non-waterlogged cucumber plants

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural crops can be subjected to soil waterlogging, a major abiotic stress, caused by excessive precipitation and poor soil drainage, which can dramatically reduce the plant’s physiological performance, yield, and fruit quality. An early response to waterlogging, especially in sensitive crops species such as cucumber, is the reduction of water uptake in the root system [1,2] Decreasing root hydraulic conductance, the reduction of water uptake, is a result of a disruption of aquaporin function [3]. Waterlogging causes the production of the high-energy phosphate compound, ATP, to decrease up to 37.5% in affected plant cells [4]. The repercussions of the plants declining energy reserves due to the decreased. A of waterlogged plants are metabolically widespread, even for a short period of time. Especially in cucumber, is induced by the initiation and proliferation of adventitious

Objectives

Results

Conclusion