Molecular and Physiological Responses to Water Deficit in Drought-Tolerant and Drought-Sensitive Lines of Sunflower1 : Accumulation of Dehydrin Transcripts Correlates with Tolerance

To investigate correlations between phenotypic adaptation to water limitation and drought-induced gene expression, we have studied a model system consisting of a drought-tolerant line (R1) and a drought-sensitive line (S1) of sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.) subjected to progressive drought. R1 tolerance is characterized by the maintenance of shoot cellular turgor. Drought-induced genes (HaElip1, HaDhn1, and HaDhn2) were previously identified in the tolerant line. The accumulation of the corresponding transcripts was compared as a function of soil and leaf water status in R1 and S1 plants during progressive drought. In leaves of R1 plants the accumulation of HaDhn1 and HaDhn2 transcripts, but not HaElip1 transcripts, was correlated with the drought-adaptive response. Drought-induced abscisic acid (ABA) concentration was not associated with the varietal difference in drought tolerance. Stomata of both lines displayed similar sensitivity to ABA. ABA-induced accumulation of HaDhn2 transcripts was higher in the tolerant than in the sensitive genotype. HaDhn1 transcripts were similarly accumulated in the tolerant and in the sensitive plants in response to ABA, suggesting that additional factors involved in drought regulation of HaDhn1 expression might exist in tolerant plants.

The effect of timing and severity of water deficit on growth, development, yield accumulation and nitrogen fixation of mungbean

Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.), as a dryland grain legume, is exposed to varying timing and severity of water deficit, which results in variability in grain yield, nitrogen accumulation and grain quality. In this field study, mungbean crops were exposed to varying timing and severity of water deficit in order to examine: (1) contribution of the second flush of pods to final grain yield with variable timing of relief from water deficit, (2) the sensitivity to water deficit of the accumulation of biomass and nitrogen (N) and its partitioning to grain, and (3) how the timing of water deficit affects the pattern of harvest index (HI) increase through pod filling. The results showed that the contribution of the second flush to final yield is highly variable (1-56%) and can be considerable, especially where mid-season stress is relieved at early pod filling. The capacity to produce a second flush of pods did not compensate fully for yield reduction due to water stress. Relief from mid-season stress also resulted in continued leaf production, N-2 fixation and vegetative biomass accumulation during pod filling. Despite the wide variation in the degree of change in vegetative biomass and N during pod filling, there were strong relationships between grain yield and net-above-ground biomass at maturity, and grain N and above-ground N at maturity. Only in the extreme situations were HI and nitrogen HI affected noticeably. In those treatments where there was a large second flush of pods, there was a pronounced biphasic pattern to pod number production, with HI also progressing through two distinct phases of increase separated by a plateau. The proportion of grain yield contributed to by biomass produced before pod filling varied from 0 to 61% with the contribution greatest under terminal water deficit. There was a larger effect of water deficit on N accumulation, and hence N-2 fixation, than on biomass accumulation. The study confirmed the applicability of a number of long-standing physiological concepts to the analysis of the effect of water deficit on mungbean, but also highlighted the difficulty of accounting for timing effects of water deficit where second flushes of pods alter canopy development, biomass and yield accumulation, and N dynamics. Crown Copyright (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Jujube fruit water relations during fruit maturation stage under different water deficit conditions

The fruit maturation stage is considered the optimal phenological stage for implementing water deficitin jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill.), since a low, moderate or severe water deficit at this time has no effect onyield, fruit volume or eating quality. However, no information exists at fruit water relations level on themechanisms developed by Z. jujuba to confront drought. The purpose of the present study was to increaseour understanding of the relationship between leaf and fruit water relations of jujube plants under dif-ferent irrigation conditions during fruit maturation, paying special attention to analysing whether fruitsize depends on fruit turgor. For this, adult jujube trees (cv. Grande de Albatera) were subjected to fiveirrigation treatments. Control plants (T0) were irrigated daily above their crop water requirements inorder to attain non-limiting soil water conditions in 2012 and 2013. T1 plants were subjected to deficitirrigation throughout the 2012 season, according to the criteria frequently used by the growers in thearea. T2 (2012), T3 and T4 (2013) were irrigated as T0 except during fruit maturation, in which irrigationwas withheld for 32, 17 and 24 days, respectively. The results indicated that the jujube fruit maturationperiod was clearly sensitive to water deficit. During most of this stage water could enter the fruits viathe phloem rather than via the xylem. From the beginning of water withholding to when maximumwater stress levels were achieved, fruit and leaf turgor were maintained in plants under water deficit.However, a direct relation between turgor and fruit size was not found in jujube fruits, which could bedue to an enhancement of a cell elasticity mechanism (elastic adjustment) which maintains fruit turgorby reducing fruit cells size or to the fact that jujube fruit growth depends on the fruit growth-effectiveturgor rather than just turgor pressure.

Different levels of water deficit induces changes in growth pattern but not in chlorophyll fluorescence and water relations of Hancornia speciosa Gomes seedlings.

Hancornia speciosa Gomes é uma espécie conhecida popularmente no Brasil como mangabeira, cujo fruto apresenta alto valor nutricional. O conhecimento sobre a sua fisiologia é ainda escasso, principalmente no que se refere ao desenvolvimento inicial. Dessa forma, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos de diferentes níveis de déficit hídrico sobre o padrão de crescimento, fluorescência de clorofila e relações hídricas em mudas de mangabeira. Foi utilizado um esquema fatorial (tratamentos x época de avaliação) com quatro tratamentos hídricos com base na capacidade de campo (CC) (80%, 60%, 40% e 20%), com cinco repetições. Foram avaliados a altura das plantas, número de folhas, diâmetro do caule, produção e partição de biomassa, eficiência quântica do fotossistema II (PSII), potencial hídrico (?w), teor relativo de água (TRA) e teor de carboidratos, proteínas e prolina. O déficit hídrico severo (20% CC) levou a uma redução no crescimento e alterou o padrão de partição de biomassa nas mudas. No entanto, as relações hídricas não foram significativamente afetadas, pois as mudas mantiveram altos valores de ?w e TRA, sem acúmulos significativos nos teores de solutos orgânicos quando cultivadas com 20%CC. Além do mais, a eficiência quântica do PSII não foi afetada pelos diferentes regimes hídricos, sugerindo que não houve fotoinibição devido ao estresse hídrico. A mudança no padrão de crescimento, com um incremento no aprofundamento das raízes e redução no crescimento da parte aérea parece ser a principal estratégia das mudas de H. speciosa para a manutenção da hidratação dos tecidos durante períodos de déficit hídrico.

Estimation of climatological water deficit in an experimental watershed in the brazilian cerrado.

ABSTRACT: This study aimed to estimate the probability of climatological water deficit in an experimental watershed in the Cerrado biome, located in the central plateau of Brazil. For that, it was used a time series of 31 years (1982?2012). The probable climatological water deficit was calculated by the difference between rainfall and probable reference evapotranspiration, on a decennial scale. The reference evapotranspiration (ET0) was estimated by the standard FAO-56 Penman-Monteith method. To estimate water deficit, it was used gamma distribution, time series of rainfall and reference evapotranspiration. The adherence of the estimated probabilities to the observed data was verified by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov nonparametric test, with significance level (a-0.05), which presented a good adjustment to the distribution models. It was observed a climatological water deficit, in greater or lesser intensity, between the annual decennials 2 and 32.

Physiological limitations in two sugarcane varieties under water suppression and after recovering

Increasing water scarcity and depleted water productivity in irrigated soils are inducing farmers to adopt improved varieties, such as those with high-capacity tolerance. The use of tolerant varieties of sugarcane might substantially avoid the decline of productivity under water deficit. This research aimed to evaluate the harmful effects of drought on the physiology of two sugarcane varieties (RB867515 and RB962962) during the initial development. Young plants were subjected to irrigation suspension until total stomata closure, and then rewatered. Significant reduction on stomatal conductance, transpiration, and net photosynthesis were observed. RB867515 showed a faster stomatal closure while RB962962 slowed the effects of drought on the gas exchanges parameters with a faster recovering after rewatering. Accumulation of carbohydrates, amino acids, proline, and protein in the leaves and roots of the stressed plants occurred in both varieties, substantially linked to reduction of the leaf water potential. Due to the severity of stress, this accumulation was not enough to maintain the cell turgor pressure, so relative water content was diminished. Water stress affected the contents of chlorophyll (a, b, and total) in both varieties, but not the levels of carotenoids. There was a significant reduction in dry matter under stress. In conclusion, RB962962 variety endured stressed conditions more than RB867515, since it slowed down the damaging effects of drought on the gas exchanges. In addition, RB962962 presented a faster recovery than RB867515, a feature that qualifies it as a variety capable of enduring short periods of drought without major losses in the initial stage of its development.

Eucalyptus sp seedling response to potassium fertilization and soil water

A considerable portion of Brazil's commercial eucalypt plantations is located in areas Subjected to periods of water deficit and grown in soils with low natural fertility, particularly poor In potassium. Potassium is influential in controlling water relations of plants. The objective of this study was to verify the influence of potassium fertilization and soil water potential (psi(w)) oil the dry matter production and oil water relations Of eucalypt seedlings grown under greenhouse conditions. the experimental units were arranged in 4x4x2 randomized blocks factorial design, as follow: four species of Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus grandis, Eucalyptus urophylla, Eucalyptus camaldulensis and hybrid Eucalyptus grandis x Eucalyptus urophylla), four dosages of K (0, 50, 100 and 200 mg dm(-3)) and two soil water potentials (-0.01 M Pa and -0.1 M Pa). Plastic containers with 15 cm diameter and 18 cm height, with Styrofoam base, containing 3.0 dm(3) of soil and two plants per container were used. Soil water potential was kept at -0.01 MPa for 40 days after seeding. Afterward, the experimental units were divided into two groups: in one group the potential was kept at 0.01 MPa, and in the other one, at -0.10 MPa. Sol I water potential was control led gravimetrically twice a day with water replacement until the desired potential was reestablished. A week before harvesting, the leaf water potential (psi), the photosynthetic rate (A), the stomatal conductance (gs) and the transpiration rate were evaluated. The last week before harvesting, the mass of the containers was recorded daily before watering to determine the consumption of water by the plants. After harvesting, total dry matter and leaf area were evaluated. the data were Submitted to analysis of variance, to Tukey's tests and regression analyses. The application of K influenced A, gs and the transpiration rate. Plants deficient in K showed lower A and higher Us and transpiration rates. There were no statistical differences in A, gs and transpiration rates ill plants with and Without water deficit. The addition of K reduced the consumption of water per unit of leaf area and, in general, plants submitted to water deficit presented a lower consumption of water.

Response of watermelon cultivated under different levels of water and nitrogen

The effect of four irrigation levels (50; 75; 100 and 150% of the evaporation in the class A pan) and four levels of N (0,075; 0, 150; 0,225 and 0,300 kg(-1)), were evaluated on productivity and components of production of the watermelon `Charleston Gray`. The experiment was conducted under field conditions, from October/2003 to January/2004, using a randomized split-plot design, with the factor depths in plot and depths of N in split-plot. It was verified that the factors water and nitrogen presented a highly significant effect in the yield of watermelon, while the interaction among the factors was not significant. The maximum productivity of the watermelon (68.59 Mg ha(-1)) was obtained with 421 mm of water and 267 kg ha(-1) of N. The water was more efficiently used with increments in dosage of N, being the maximum value observed of 279.54 kg ha(-1) mm(-1), obtained with a depth of water of 205 mm and a depths of N of 225 kg ha(-1). The maximum efficiency of the use of the water for the nitro en was 221 kg ha(-1) mm(-1), for 249 kg ha(-1) of N. The sugar content of the watermelon, measured in degrees Brix, was affected by the depths of irrigation, depths of N and by its interactions.

Leaf water potential and osmotic adjustment as physiological traits to improve drought tolerance in rice

A sample of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was derived from a bi-parental cross between Lemont and BK88-BR6, which contrasted in maintenance of leaf water potential (LWP) and expression of osmotic adjustment (OA). Genotypic variation for LWP and OA, and their associations with yield determination under water deficit, was studied in a series of five field experiments. Genotypic variation in the maintenance of high LWP was consistent across water deficit experiments. In the determination of genotypic variation in the maintenance of LWP, rate of water deficit was not an important factor influencing ranking, but degree of water deficit, and phenological development stage were important, particularly around heading. Genotypic variation in expression of OA was also observed under water deficits during both vegetative and flowering stages but ranking was inconsistent across experiments. This was in part because of large experimental errors associated with its measurement, but also because the expression of OA was associated with extent of decline of LWP. The relationship between OA and LWP was demonstrated when data were combined across experiments for vegetative and flowering stages. Under water-limited conditions around flowering, grain yield reduction was mainly due to a increased spikelet sterility. Variation in OA was not related to grain yield nor yield components. There were however, negative phenotypic and genetic correlations between LWP and percentage spikelet sterility measured at flowering stage on panicles at the same development stage during a water deficit treatment. This suggests that traits contributing to the maintenance of high LWP minimized the effects of water deficit on spikelet sterility and consequently grain yield. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Biochemistry of grape berries: post-genomics approaches to uncover the effects of water deficits on ripening

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in Biochemistry, Plant Physiology

Water as an essential nutrient: the physiological basis of hydration.

How much water we really need depends on water functions and the mechanisms of daily water balance regulation. The aim of this review is to describe the physiology of water balance and consequently to highlight the new recommendations with regard to water requirements. Water has numerous roles in the human body. It acts as a building material; as a solvent, reaction medium and reactant; as a carrier for nutrients and waste products; in thermoregulation; and as a lubricant and shock absorber. The regulation of water balance is very precise, as a loss of 1% of body water is usually compensated within 24 h. Both water intake and water losses are controlled to reach water balance. Minute changes in plasma osmolarity are the main factors that trigger these homeostatic mechanisms. Healthy adults regulate water balance with precision, but young infants and elderly people are at greater risk of dehydration. Dehydration can affect consciousness and can induce speech incoherence, extremity weakness, hypotonia of ocular globes, orthostatic hypotension and tachycardia. Human water requirements are not based on a minimal intake because it might lead to a water deficit due to numerous factors that modify water needs (climate, physical activity, diet and so on). Water needs are based on experimentally derived intake levels that are expected to meet the nutritional adequacy of a healthy population. The regulation of water balance is essential for the maintenance of health and life. On an average, a sedentary adult should drink 1.5 l of water per day, as water is the only liquid nutrient that is really essential for body hydration.