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Physiological assessment of water deficit in soybean using midday leaf water potential and spectral features

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journal contribution
posted on 2019-09-12, 05:49 authored by Chathurika Wijewardana, Firas A. Alsajri, J. Trenton Irby, L. Jason Krutz, Bobby Golden, W. Brien Henry, Wei Gao, K. Raja Reddy

Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that limit soybean production worldwide. This study was conducted to determine whether soybean cultivars with divergent growth habits respond differently to drought stress at the vegetative growth stage regarding canopy reflectance, physiological, and gas exchange traits under controlled conditions. Soil moisture content was positively correlated with mid-day leaf water potential. Pooled over cultivar, photosynthesis and stomatal conductance were highly correlated with mid-day leaf water potential, while Ci/Ca exhibited a weak positive correlation. These data indicate that, regardless of cultivar, the decrease in net photosynthesis is mainly due to stomatal closure. For both cultivars, drought stress increased soybean canopy reflectance in the visible range of the spectrum but decreased reflectance in the near-infrared region. The quantified physiological traits would be useful to understand plant water relations and canopy structure to help soybean growers to make field management decisions during the growing season.

Funding

This work was supported by Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Mississippi State University [grant number MIS 043040]; National Institute of Food and Agriculture [grant number NIFA 2016-34263-25763]; Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board [grant number 75-2017].

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