Effects of water stress on quality and sugar metabolism in'Gala'apple fruit

Sugar plays an important role in apple fruit development,appearance and quality as well as contributing to a plant’s water stress response.Trehalose and the trehalose biosynthetic metabolic pathways are part of the sugar signaling system in plants,which are important regulator of water stress response in apple.The effect of water stress treatments applied to apple trees and the corresponding effects of ABA on developmental fruit quality were examined for indicators of fruit quality during fruit development.The results indicated that the severe water stress treatment(W2)occurring after the last stage of fruit cell division caused a decrease in the color and size of fruit.The moderate water stress(W1)occurring after the last stage of fruit cell enlargement(S2)caused an increase in the content of fructose and sorbitol while the apple fruit shape was not affected.These changes in sugar are related to the activity of sugar metabolic enzymes.While the enzymatic activity of vacuolar acid invertase(vAINV)was higher,that of sucrose-phosphate synthase(SPS)was lower in water stress treated fruit throughout the developmental period.This indicates that enhanced sucrose degradation and reduced sucrose synthesis leads to an overall reduced sucrose content during times of drought.Thus,water stress reduced sucrose content.Whereas the content of endogenous trehalose and ABA were the highest in water stress treated fruit.A moderate water stress(W1)imposed on apple trees via water restriction(60%–65%of field capacity)after the fruit cell enlargement phase of fruit development yielded sweeter fruit of higher economic value.

An Automatic Classification Grading of Spinach Seedlings Water Stress Based on N-MobileNetXt

To solve inefficient water stress classification of spinach seedlings under complex background,this study proposed an automatic classification method for the water stress level of spinach seedlings based on the N-MobileNetXt(NCAM+MobileNetXt)network.Firstly,this study recon-structed the Sandglass Block to effectively increase the model accuracy;secondly,this study introduced the group convolution module and a two-dimensional adaptive average pool,which can significantly compress the model parameters and enhance the model robustness separately;finally,this study innovatively proposed the Normalization-based Channel Attention Module(NCAM)to enhance the image features obviously.The experimental results showed that the classification accuracy of N-MobileNetXt model for spinach seedlings under the natural environment reached 90.35%,and the number of parameters was decreased by 66%compared with the original MobileNetXt model.The N-MobileNetXt model was superior to other net-work models such as ShuffleNet and GhostNet in terms of parameters and accuracy of identification.It can provide a theoretical basis and technical support for automatic irrigation.

Water Stress Early Detection of Eggplant Plants by Hyperspectral Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Water stress early detection is essential for precision farming to improve crop productivity and product quality. The methods usually used are destructive, long and expensive. In this work, we used hyperspectral chlorophyll fluorescence technology as a rapid, non-destructive approach to detect the water deficiency of eggplant plants using their spectral footprint. So, an experiment was made on 54 eggplant plants subjected to three water treatments: normal irrigation (T100), intermediate irrigation (T50) and no irrigation (T0). The fluorescence spectra were acquired in vivo and in situ using a USB4000 spectrometer from Ocean optics. For the classification of the plants subjected to three water treatments, we used three pretreatments of the raw hyperspectral data in order to suppress the non-informative variability present in these spectra and to obtain robust models. These are the Savitzky-Golay smoothing (SG), the standard normal variable (SNV) and the first derivative of Savitzky-Golay (SG-D1). The preprocessed data were then subjected to two partial least squares discriminant analyses (PLS-DA): Hard PLS-DA and Soft PLS-DA. These statistical approaches are suitable for large samples as it reduces the dimensionality of the data but improves the accuracy of the prediction. The SG-D1 combined with the Soft PLS-DA gave the best discrimination of plants with scores of sensitivity, specificity and total efficiency respectively of 97.33%, 94% and 95% for calibration, 6 days after hydric stress induction. For the plants used for the prediction, the scores are 86%, 91% and 90% respectively. This study shows that hyperspectral chlorophyll fluorescence spectroscopy is a fast and non-destructive technology allowing early detection of water stress in eggplant plants.

Effects of Water Stress on the Protective Enzyme Activities and Lipid Peroxidation in Roots and Leaves of Summer Maize

A systematic study was conducted to determine the effects of water stress on the activities of protective enzymes and lipid peroxidation in maize. The results showed that, under water stress, the activities of superoxide dismutase （SOD）, catalase （CAT）, and peroxidase （POD） in leaves and roots increased sharply at prophase and metaphase growth stages, such as, male tetrad stage, but then declined towards the physiological maturity. The protective enzyme activities in roots were lower than those in leaves. The content of malondialdehyde （MDA） increased according to the severity of water stress. The content of MDA in roots was lower than that in leaves. The activities of protective enzymes and lipid peroxidation in roots were positively related to that in leaves with most of the correlation coefficients being significant. The content of soluble proteins in roots and leaves decreased with increasing drought stress. The ear characteristics deteriorated and the economic yields of maize decreased significantly under water stress. The main factors that caused reduction of yields were the decrease in the number of ear kernels and 100-kernel weight.

Effects of Rare Earth on Oxidative Damage and Redox System of Wheat Seedling Leaves under Water Stress

After treated with low concentration of La^3 ＋ , the rate of producing active oxygen free radical, the relative permeability of cell membrane, the contents of bivalent iron ion in wheat seedling leaves under water stress were determined. The results show that in wheat seedling leaves, feasible concentrations of La^3 ＋ decreases the accumulation of active oxygen free radical, inhibits the increase of the relative permeability of cell membrane, reduces the content of peroxidation product MDA of membrane lipid, and prevents the plant cell producing more bivalent iron ion which can catalyzed the reaction of Haber-weiss and Fenton to produce more superoxide anion. In addition, purified plasma membrane was isolated by aqueous two-phase partitioning from wheat seedling leaves. The reduction rate of Fe（CN）6^3- by purified plasma membrane in La^3＋ -treated wheat seedling leaves is different from those in the absence of La^3＋ under water stress. The changing trend of the redox activity to La^3＋ is similar to that of the content of Fe^2＋ . The results reveal that extraneous La^3＋ can alleviate the damages of cell membrane caused by water stress via promoting the activity of redox system and the ability of eliminating ROS in wheat seedling leaves.

Beneficial effects of silicon on photosynthesis of tomato seedlings under water stress

Silicon can improve drought tolerance of plants,but the mechanism still remains unclear.Previous studies have mainly concentrated on silicon-accumulating plants,whereas less work has been conducted in silicon-excluding plants,such as tomato（Solanum lycopersicum L.）.In this study,we investigated the effects of exogenous silicon（2.5 mmol L^（-1））on the chlorophyll fluorescence and expression of photosynthesis-related genes in tomato seedlings（Zhongza 9）under water stress induced by 10%（w/v）polyethylene glycol（PEG-6000）.The results showed that under water stress,the growth of shoot and root was inhibited,and the chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations were decreased,while silicon addition improved the plant growth and increased the concentrations of chlorophyll and carotenoid.Under water sterss,chlorophyll fluorescence parameters such as PSII maximum photochemical efficiency（F_v/F_m）,effective quantum efficiency,actual photochemical quantum efficiency（Ф_（PSII））,photosynthetic electron transport rate（ETR）,and photochemical quenching coefficient（q_P）were decreased;while these changes were reversed in the presence of added silicon.The expressions of some photosynthesis-related genes including PetE,PetF,PsbP,PsbQ,PsbW,and Psb28 were down-regulated under water stress,and exogenous Si could partially up-regulate their expressions.These results suggest that silicon plays a role in the alleviation of water stress by modulating some photosynthesis-related genes and regulating the photochemical process,and thus promoting photosynthesis.

Relationship Between Changes of Endogenous Hormone in Sweet Potato Under Water Stress and Variety Drought-resistance

The IAA, GA3, iPA, ZR and ABA contents in sweet potato leaves under drought conditions were determined by the method of ELISA, and the relationship between these endogenous hormones and drought resistance of different sweet potato varieties were studied. The results showed the IAA, GA3, iPA and ZR contents in sweet potato leaves decreased, but ABA contents increased obviously. The stronger the drought resistance of the variety was, the more IAA, GA3, iPA and ZR contents decreased and the less ABA contents increased. Their relative contents correlated significantly negatively(r were -0.9070, -0.9493, -0.9509, -0.8674 and -0.9117 respectively)to drought-resistability.

Effects of Water Stress on Reactive Oxygen Species Generation and Protection System in Rice During Grain-Filling Stage

Rice is one of the main staple food crops in the world, but it may suffer serious water stress during growth period. Water stress during grain filling results in decreased grain yeild, but its mechanism generating and scavenging the active oxygen is unclear under continuance of the water stress. The experiment was carried out in growth chamber to investigate the effects of water stress on the production of superoxide free radical （O2）, hydrogen peroxide （H202）, malondialdehyde （MDA）, reduced glutathione （GSH）, ascorbic acid （AsA）, and antioxidative enzyme activities in three rice hybrids with differing drought resistant under both normal and drought conditions during grain-filling stage. The results showed that water stress aggravated the membrane lipid peroxidation in rice leaves, which was more severe in less drought resistant hybrids than that in more tolerant ones. Also O2＇ and H2O2 accumulated more rapidly in less drought resistant hybrids than that in more tolerant ones. During water stress, decreases of GSH, AsA, chlorophyll, and relative water contents in more drought resistant hybrids were obvious less than those in less tolerant ones. Activities of superoxide dismutase （SOD）, catalase （CAT） and peroxidase （POD） in/eaves increased obviously in 0-14 d after heading and subsequently decreased rapidly, and those in more drought resistant hybrids were more than those in less tolerant ones. The results showed that changes of O2, H2O2, MDA, GSH, and AsA contents and antioxidative enzyme activities correlated significantly to drought resistance of rice hybrids, and more drought resistant hybrids possessed high ant oxidation capacity.

Relationship Between Soluble Protein,Chlorophyll and ATP in Drought-Resistant Sweet Potato Under Water Stress

Some indices concerning the metabolism of substance and energy in sweet potato leaves under water stress were studied. The results showed an obvious increase in soluble protein content. Compared with control, Chl a, Chl b, total Chl contents and the ratio of Chl a to Chl b all decreased to some extent. ATP content increased in some varieties and decreased in others, but the stronger the drought resistance of the variety , the higher the ATP content. The correlation coefficient(r)of the soluble protein content, ratio of Chl a to Chl b and ATP content as a percentage of the drought-resistant sweet potato control variety are 0. 8968, - 0. 8509 and 0. 8200, respectively, P<0. 01. So these indices can be used to evaluate the drought resistance of different sweet potato varieties.

Growth and Eco-Physiological Performance of Cotton Under Water Stress Conditions

A cotton cultivar Xinluzao 8 was grown under four levels of water stress treatments （normal irrigation, slight, mild and severe water stress） from the initial reproductive growth stage in Shihezi, Xinjiang, China, in 2002, to evaluate the growth and eco-physiological performances. Under water stress conditions, the transpiration ability decreased while the leaf temperature increased. Although the relative leaf water content decreased as water stress increased, the differences among the treatments were small, indicating that cotton has high ability in maintaining water in leaf. The stomatal density increased as water stress increased, while the maximum stomatal aperture reduced only in the severest stressed plants. The time of the maximum stomatal aperture was delayed in the mild and severe stressed plants. When severe stress occurred, the stomata were kept open until the transpiration decreased to nearly zero, suggesting that the stomata might not be the main factor in adjusting transpiration in cotton. Cotton plant has high adaptation ability to water stress conditions because of decrease in both stomatal conductance and hydraulic conductance from soil-to-leaf pathway. The actual quantum yield of photosystem Ⅱ （PS Ⅱ） decreased under water stress conditions, while the maximum quantum yield of PS Ⅱ did not vary among treatments, suggesting that PS II would not be damaged by water stress. The total dry weight reduced as water stress increased.

Assessment of Photochemical Reflectance Index as a Tool for Evaluation of Chlorophyll Fluorescence Parameters in Cotton and Peanut Cultivars Under Water Stress Condition

The relationships between photochemical reflectance index （PRI） and the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters were examined to assess suitability of PRI as a remote-sensing tool for the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters. A greenhouse experiment was conducted using cotton and peanut crops under water stress condition. Five cotton and six peanut cultivars were grown using Andosole soil in pots maintained at two water levels; the control and water stress treatment （WS） of 100 and 50% of the daily transpiration, respectively. Higher non-photochemical quenching （NPQ） was exhibited by peanut than that of cotton by the water stress. On the other hand, the decreases of the actual quantum yield of photosystem II （△F/F＇m） and PRI by the water stress in cotton were larger than those in peanut. There were positively significant correlation coefficients between PRI and △F/F＇m in cotton at noon and in the afternoon including the control and WS. The correlations of PRI with NPQ were negatively significant at noon and in the afternoon for cotton, and in the afternoon for peanut. No clear relationship was found among these parameters in the morning probably due to the diurnal increase in global solar radiation. It was concluded that there would be a possibility to detect the effects of water stress on △F/F＇m and NPQ by PRI with some exceptions, although PRI could not note varietals differences in △F/F＇m and NPQ for each treatment.

Suitability of Stem Diameter Variations as an Indicator of Water Stress of Cotton

Water stress effects on stem diameter variations （SDV） were studied in a pot experiment on cotton （Gossypium hirustum L. Meimian99B）. Water restriction was imposed at the flowering stage and were compared with a well-watered control treatment. The volumetric soil water content （0v） and SDV were monitored continuously. The objective was to determine the feasibility of using the parameters derived from stem diameter measurements, including maximum daily stem shrinkage （MDS）, maximum daily stem diameter （MXSD）, and minimum daily stem diameter （MNSD） as indicators of plant water stress. The different behavior of SDV was founded at different growth stages. At stem-maturing stage, MDS increased and MNSD decreased in deficit-irrigated plants compared with the control plants, therefore, it appeared that MDS and MNSD ccould be used as available indicators of plant water status. At stem growth stage, there were no significant differences in MDS values between treatments but MXSD and MNSD responded sharply to soil water deficits. Thus, for rapidly growing cotton, the course of MXSD or MNSD with time offered a consistent stress indicator. SDV was also closely related to atmospheric factors, solar radiation （Rs） and vapor pressure deficit （VPD） were found to be the predominant factors affecting MDS, followed by the relative humidity （RH）, while air temperature （Ta） and wind velocity had the least effect. A good linear relationship was founded （r^2 = 0.921） between MDS and environmental variables （Rs, VPD, RH, and θv）, which can be used to establish a reference value for detecting plant water stress based on the MDS patterns.

Towards a more flexible representation of water stress effects in the nonlinear Jarvis model

To better interpret summer maize stomatal conductance （gs） variation under conditions of changing water status at different growth stages, three water stress indicators, soil water content （SWC）, leaf-air temperature difference （AT） and leaf level water stress index （CWSIL） were employed in Jarvis model, which were Js, JT and Jc models respectively. Measurements of gs were conducted in a summer maize field experiment during the year 2012-2013. In the insufficient irrigation exper- iment, three levels of irrigation amount were applied at four different growth stages of summer maize. We constructed three scenarios to evaluate the performance of the three water stress indicators for estimating maize gs in a modified Jarvis model. Results showed that JT and Jc models had better simulation accuracy than the Js model, especially at the late growth stage （Scenario 1） or considering the plant recovery compensation effects （Scenario 2）. Scenario 3 indicated that the more environmental factors were adopted, the better prediction performance would be for Js model. While for JT model, two environmental factors （photosynthesis active radiation （PAR）, and vapor pressure deficit （VPD）） seemed good enough to obtain a reliable simulation. When there were insufficient environmental data, CWSI, would be the best option. This study can be useful to understand the response of plant stomatal to changing water conditions and will further facilitate the application of the Jarvis model in various environments.

Relationship Between LOX Activity, SA and JA Accumulation in Tobacco Leaves Under Water Stress

The relationship between LOX(lipoxygenase)activity, SA(salicylic acid)and JA(jasmonic acid)accumulation was studied in the tobacco leaf under water stress. The result showed that LOX activity and JA content increased simutaneously with losing of water . NDGA(nordihydroguaiaretic),an inhibitor of LOX, inhibited simultaneously both the activity of LOX and the enhancement of JA level under the stress. Likewise, adding LOX to tobacco cell-free system led to the increase of JA content. It suggested that LOX could be a key enzyme in JA biosynthesis under water stress. SA inhibited the enhancement of JA level under the stress.

Modulation of leaf conductance by root to shoot signaling under water stress in Arabidopsis

Signal communication between root and shoot plays a crucial role in plant resistance to water stress. While many studies on root to shoot signals have been carried out in many plant species, no information is available for the model plant, Arabidopsis, whose adoption has great significance for further probing the molecular aspects of long distance stress signals. Here, we introduced the es- tablishment of techniques for investigations of root to shoot signals in Arabidopsis. Stomata! movements in relation to root signals were probed by using these techniques. The results show that Arabidopsis is a suitable plant species for partial roots drying （PRD） experiments. In the PRD system, while no significant differences were found in leaf water potential between well-watered and stressed plants, water stress led to a decrease in leaf conductance, which suggests a regulation of stomatal movements by root to shoot signals. While water stress caused a significant increase in the concentration of sap abscisic acid （ABA） of xylem, no increase in xylem sap pH was observed. Moreover, the increase in the ABA content of xylem coincided with the decrease in leaf conductance, which suggests a possible role of ABA in the regulation of stomatal movements. Infrared temperature images showed that leaf tem- peratures of PRD plant were higher compared with those of well-watered plants, which further indicates that stomatal movements can be modulated by root signals. The confirmation of root to shoot signaling in Arabidopsis has established a basis for further inves- tigation into the molecular mechanisms of the root to shoot signaling under water stress.

Influence of Diazotrophic Bacteria on Antioxidant Enzymes and Some Biochemical Characteristics of Soybean Subjected to Water Stress

Drought stress is an abiotic stress that imposes serious constraints on plants. The present investigation was carried out to determine the inter-relationship between some physiological attributes of soybeans affected by drought stress and pure isolates ofAzotobacter andAzospirillum. Drought stress and bacterial application increased catalase and glutathione peroxidase activity, whereas drought stress increased superoxide dismutase activity during the pod-filling stage. Abscisic acid and proline levels increased due to drought stress and bacterial application during the flowering stage, whereas total plant nitrogen was enhanced under well-watered conditions when plants were inoculated with bacteria. The close relationship between enzyme activity and drought stress with bacteria indicated that antioxidant enzymes play an important role in alleviating the detrimental effects of water stress. In addition, the enhancement of abscisic acid and proline could be positively linked with drought stress, and drought-induced abscisic acid could induce proline accumulation and the expression of antioxidant enzyme genes.

Effects of Piriformospora indica on the Respiration of Taxus chinensis var.mairei under Water Stress

Seedlings of Taxus chinensis var.mairei were used as experimental materials to study the adaptation of Piriformospora indica to this plant under water stress.The materials were divided into two groups,namely,with or without inoculation with P.indica.Each group was subjected to four different levels of water stress.Vitality and physiological and biochemical indexes of the roots of T.chinensis var.mairei were regularly measured.Under water stress,T.chinensis var.mairei had significantly decreased root vitality;root vitality was higher in inoculated roots than in uninoculated roots.Under intense water stress,the inoculated roots had a higher soluble sugar content than the uninoculated roots.Under water stress,T.chinensis var.mairei experienced decreased activity of aerobic respiratory metabolic enzymes.The activity of anaerobic respiratory metabolic enzymes and alcohol dehydrogenase initially increased and then decreased,whereas that of lactate dehydrogenase increased.The inoculated roots had a higher activity of respiratory metabolic enzymes than the uninoculated roots.As water stress was further intensified,the roots had significantly decreased activity of aerobic respiratory metabolic enzymes and significantly increased activity of anaerobic respiratory metabolic enzymes.The activity of respiratory metabolic enzymes decreased faster in the uninoculated roots than in the inoculated roots.This study demonstrated that Piriformospora indica plays a positive role in enhancing the antihypoxic ability of T.chinensis var.mairei,thereby alleviating plant damage due to water stress.

The Stimulating Effects of Rewatering on Leaf Area of Winter Wheat Suffering Water Stress

After water stress at various levels and durations at different growth stages, rewatering could greatly stimulate the leaf area development of winter wheat. The results showed that the stimulation effect changed with water stress time, degree and duration. Rewatering under earlier stress had greater stimulation effect on leaf area than that under later stress. Higher stimulation effect was observed under severe water stress than that under moderate stress. Longer duration of stress resulted in low stimulation effect. In spite of the greater stimulation effect under severe and longer stress, the final leaf area in these situations was lower than that under moderate stress and shorter duration. Whenever the stress occurred, the stimulating effect was due to the increase of the leaf area of the tillers. Once the leaf on the main stem emerged during stress period, rewatering had no effect on its size, and consequently its leaf area. The stimulation of rewateirng on leaf area contributed to the final grain yield by 45% under moderate stress, and 67% under severe stress. Although the stimulation partly compensated for the loss during stress, the final leaf area and the grain yield could not reach the level without water stress.

Evaluation and Bulked Segregant Analysis of Major Yield QTL qtl12.1 Introgressed into Indigenous Elite Line for Low Water Availability under Water Stress

Near isogenic lines carrying large-effect QTL （qtl2.1）, which has a consistent influence on grain yield under upland drought stress conditions in a wide range of environments, were evaluated under water stress in the fields. The line which gave higher yield under drought was crossed with a local elite line, PMK3, and forwarded to F2：3 generation. Significant variation was found among the F2：3 lines for agronomic traits under water stress in the fields. Low to high broad sense heritability （H） for investigated traits was also found. Water stress indicators such as leaf rolling and leaf drying were negatively correlated with plant height, biomass and grain yield under stress. Bulked segregant analysis （BSA） was performed with the markers in the vicinity of qUl2.1, and RM27933 was found to be segregated perfectly well in individual components of drought resistant and drought susceptible bulks which were bulked based on yield under water stress among F2：3 lines. Hence, this simple and breeder friendly marker, RM27933, may be useful as a potentially valuable candidate marker for the transfer of the QTL qtl12.1 in the regional breeding program. Bioinformatic analysis of the DNA sequence of the qtl12.1 region was also done to identify and analyze positional candidate genes associated with this QTL and to ascertain the putative molecular basis of qUl2.1.

Effects of UV-B Radiation and Water Stress on Soybean Yield

Soybean Dongnong 47 was subjected to the experiments of increasing UV-B radiation and water stress on soybean yield components in different growth periods. The results showed that 100-seed weight greatly increased during the early stage of pod filling in the treatment of weak UV-B radiation, seed number per plant as well as seed weight per plant and Dongnong47 yield also increased, while the yield and yield components of Dongnong47 during the blossom to mature period were negatively affected in the treatment of intensive UV-B radiation. 100-seed weight of Dongnong47 all increased in the double factor treatments of UV-B radiation and water stress, with the drought intensified, seed number per plant, seed weight per plant and yield of Dongnong47 decreased, the change of 100-seed weight were various and the antagonistic action of UV-B radiation and water stress were related with their intensity.