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JXB Advance Access published online on September 18, 2006
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erl131
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© The Author [2006]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received May 4, 2006
Accepted July 20, 2006

RESEARCH PAPER

Physiological responses of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) to partial root-zone drying: ABA signalling, leaf gas exchange, and water use efficiency

Fulai Liu 1 *, Ali Shahnazari 1, Mathias N. Andersen 2, Sven-Erik Jacobsen 1, and Christian R. Jensen 1

1 The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Department of Agricultural Sciences, Crop Science, Højbakkegaard Allé 13, DK-2630 Taastrup, Denmark
2 Department of Agroecology, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Research Centre Foulum, PO Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Fulai Liu, E-mail: fl{at}kvl.dk


  Abstract

The physiological responses of potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Folva) to partial root-zone drying (PRD) were investigated in potted plants in a greenhouse (GH) and in plants grown in the field under an automatic rain-out-shelter. In the GH, irrigation was applied daily to the whole root system (FI), or to one-half of the root system while the other half was dried, for 9 d. In the field, the plants were drip irrigated either to the whole root system near field capacity (FI) or using 70% water of FI to one side of the roots, and shifted to the other side every 5-10 d (PRD). PRD plants had a similar midday leaf water potential to that of FI, whereas in the GH their root water potential ({Psi}r) was significantly lowered after 5 d. Stomatal conductance (gs) was more sensitive to PRD than photosynthesis (A) particularly in the field, leading to greater intrinsic water use efficiency (WUE) (i.e. A/gs) in PRD than in FI plants on several days. In PRD, the xylem sap abscisic acid concentration ([ABA]xylem) increased exponentially with decreasing {Psi}r; and the relative [ABA]xylem (PRD/FI) increased exponentially as the fraction of transpirable soil water (FTSW) in the drying side decreased. In the field, the leaf area index was slightly less in PRD than in FI treatment, while tuber biomass was similar for the two treatments. Compared with FI, PRD treatment saved 30% water and increased crop water use efficiency (WUE) by 59%. Restrictions on leaf area expansion and gs by PRD-induced ABA signals might have contributed to reduced water use and increased WUE.

Keywords: Abscisic acid; leaf area; partial root-zone drying; potato; stomatal conductance; water use efficiency.
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