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Effect of Temperature and Water Deficit on Water‐Use Efficiency, Carbon Isotope Discrimination, and Specific Leaf Area in Peanut
Author(s) -
Craufurd P. Q.,
Wheeler T. R.,
Ellis R. H.,
Summerfield R. J.,
Williams J. H.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1999.0011183x003900010022x
Subject(s) - water use efficiency , arachis hypogaea , specific leaf area , dry matter , biology , agronomy , stable isotope ratio , horticulture , zoology , botany , photosynthesis , irrigation , physics , quantum mechanics
Carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) and specific leaf area (SLA) have been shown to be correlated with water‐use efficiency (WUE) of peanut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) and SLA has been proposed as an indirect selection criterion for Δ and WUE. The effect of high temperature and water deficit on WUE, Δ, and SLA, and relations between them, was investigated in controlled environments. Five Spanish ( A. hypogaea ssp. fastigiata ) and three Virginia ( A. hypogaea ssp. hypogaea , botanical type) lines were grown at mean temperatures of 27 and 34°C and at 50 and 100% available soil water (ASW) from first flowering to maturity, and WUE, Δ and SLA measured at maturity. Virginia genotypes had higher total dry matter, water use and WUE( P ≤ 0.01), but were more sensitive to high temperature (P ≤ 0.01) than Spanish genotypes. Water deficit reduced water use and SLA, and increased WUE. The only water deficit × temperature interaction ( P < 0.05) was for Δ, where water deficit reduced the value of Δ at 27° but not at 34°C. High temperature had no effect on water use, but decreased WUE and increased SLA. Across all water deficit and temperature treatments ( n = 32), WUE was correlated with Δ ( r = ‐0.78, P < 0.001) and SLA ( r = ‐0.70, P 0. 001), an SLA correlated with Δ ( r = 0.75, P < 0.001) with no difference associated with botanical type. Temperature and water deficit had significant ( P ≤ 0.05) effects on the intercept, but not the slope of these relations. The results support the view that SLA can be used as an indirect selection criterion for Δ and WUE in genotypic selection.