Abstract
Numerous studies have demonstrated that physiological responses of many crops to the fraction of extractable soil water conforms to a generalizable pattern. This suggests that differences among crops in their drought tolerance are largely due to differences in the total amount of transpirable water the crop can extract. Potato is frequently assumed to be more drought sensitive than other agronomic crops due, at least in part, to a shallow root system. In the research reported here, potato leaf growth and transpiration response to water deficits were determined as a function of fraction transpirable soil water (FTSW). Transpiration was unaffected by water stress until a critical FTSW was achieved when 64% to 80% of the extractable soil water was depleted depending on the cultivar. This was similar to the response reported for 8 other agronomic crops. In terms of transpiration, potato hypersensitivity to drought stress appears to be due to less effective soil water extraction. Leaf growth, however, showed a unique response to soil water deficits. Leaf growth began to decline when 40% of the extractable soil water was depleted. The associated critical FTSW was higher than any previously reported for all other crops. These data indicate that in addition to extracting less soil water, an additional physiological process related to leaf expansion must be contributing to the potato’s hypersensitivity to drought.
Compendio
Numerosos estudios han demostrado que las respuestas fisiológicas de muchos cultivos a la fracción extraíble de agua del suelo se comporta de una manera posible de generalizarse. Esto sugiere que las diferencias entre sus tolerancias a la sequía son debidas considerablemente a las diferencias en la cantidad total de agua de transpiración que el cultivo puede extraer. Se considera frecuentemente que la papa es más sensible a la sequía que otros cultivos debido, al menos en parte, a un sistema radicular superficial. En la investigación sobre la que aquí se informa, se determinaron las respuestas del crecimiento de las hojas y de la transpiración a los déficits de agua, como una función de la fracción transpirable del agua del suelo (FTSW). La transpiración no fue afectada por el estrés al agua hasta que era alcanzada una FTSW crítica, cuando se consumía del 64% al 80% del agua extraíble del suelo, dependiendo del cultivar. Esto fue similar a la respuesta reportada para otros ocho cultivos. En términos de transpiración, la hipersensibilidad de la papa al estrés a la sequía parece deberse a una extracción menos efectiva del agua del suelo. El crecimiento de las hojas, sin embargo, mostró una respuesta poco común a los déficits de agua en el suelo. El crecimiento de las hojas empezó a declinar cuando se consumió el 40% del agua extraíble del suelo. La FTSW crítica asociada fue mayor que en cualquier otro informe anterior sobre todos los otros cultivos. Esta información indica que además de extraer menos agua del suelo, un proceso fisiológico adicional relacionado a la expansión foliar debe estar contribuyendo a la hipersensibilidad de la papa a la sequía.
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Weisz, R., Kaminski, J. & Smilowitz, Z. Water deficit effects on potato leaf growth and transpiration: Utilizing fraction extractable soil water for comparison with other crops. American Potato Journal 71, 829–840 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02849378
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02849378