Mostafa Ghasemi; Kazem Arzani; Abbas Yadolahi; Hossin Hokmabadi
Abstract
Chlorophyll fluorescence is a non-destructive tool for estimation of the efficiency of photochemistry and photosynthesis status in plants and has extensively been used in assessing plants response to environmental stresses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of drought stress on chlorophyll ...
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Chlorophyll fluorescence is a non-destructive tool for estimation of the efficiency of photochemistry and photosynthesis status in plants and has extensively been used in assessing plants response to environmental stresses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of drought stress on chlorophyll fluorescence, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll index, and biomass in four pistachio seedling rootstocks grown under greenhouse conditions. The rootstocks were Pistacia vera cv. Badami-e-Zarand, P. vera cv Ghazvini, P. vera cv. Sarakhs, and P. mutica. The results showed that water stress reduced FV/Fm ratio (which is an indicator for the maximum efficiency of photosystem II), chlorophyll contents, and biomass in plants. Highest amount of FV/Fm ratio was observed in the control treatment (full irrigation) and had significant difference with the severe stress treatment. In most cases, there was no significant difference among studied rootstocks, except P. mutica that showed the highest quantum yield of PSII. The maximum and minimum chlorophyll concentrations in irrigation treatments were also obtained in the control and severe stress treatments, respectively. The effects of genotypes on the chlorophyll contents (a, b, total and CCI) were significant and the highest and the lowest of these parameters belonged to P. mutica and P. vera cv. Sarakhs, respectively. In the case of shoot, root, and leaf dry weight, the rootstocks P. mutica and P. vera cv. Badami showed lower reduction under water stress. Based on the results, water stress had negative effects on pistachio seedling rootstocks and P. mutica showed more resistance than the other genotypes.
a yadollahi; n teymouri; v abdousi; s sarikhani
Abstract
Considering the arid and semi-arid conditions in Iran, with average rainfall of less than 247mm, development of rainfed orchards has an important role in sustainable development of agriculture. To establish rainfed orchards in Iran in spite of deficiency in water resources, it is necessary to select ...
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Considering the arid and semi-arid conditions in Iran, with average rainfall of less than 247mm, development of rainfed orchards has an important role in sustainable development of agriculture. To establish rainfed orchards in Iran in spite of deficiency in water resources, it is necessary to select suitable plant species and methods of establishing new orchards. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate some almond cultivars (Shahrood 7, 10, and 12) and integration of microcatchments and Stockosorb Superabsorbent for establishing rainfed orchards during 2008-2010. The use of Superabsorbent with microcatchment increased relative moisture content of soil in both years. But, in the first year, there was no significant difference between microcatchment treatments with and without Superabsorbent, while both of them showed significant difference with the treatment of Superabsorbent without microcatchment. In the second year, the highest relative moisture content of soil was in microcatchment treatment with Superabsorbent, because of higher seasonal rainfall that caused more vegetative growth in the young almond trees in that treatment compared to the other treatments. Among the almond cultivars studied, Shahrood 7 and 12 seemed more resistant and adaptable to dry conditions than Shahrood 10 cultivar, because of their better vegetative characteristics.