Abstract
Waterlogging tolerance of chickpeas was found, in earlier work, to decrease sharply at flowering. Three experiments were performed to attempt to explain the mechanisms involved in this response. In the first, a range of treatments was imposed to modify the plant's source/sink relationships, as carbohydrate supply and partitioning were considered possible determinants of waterlogging tolerance. Plants from which buds were removed showed the most rapid recovery after waterlogging. Defoliation immediately before waterlogging reduced the rate of recovery. Application of benzyladenine plus gibberellic acid prior to waterlogging delayed stomatal closure and leaf senescence, inhibited apical growth and stimulated axillary growth.
The second experiment aimed to confirm the influence of bud removal and to determine whether waterlogging tolerance is correlated with carbohydrate supply. Treatments comprised two sowing times, ten days apart, and two bud treatments (retained and removed). Waterlogging was imposed when older plants had been flowering for seven days and younger plants were in bud. Waterlogging caused soluble sugars to accumulate in the lower stem, suggesting that a deficiency of assimilates did not contribute to waterlogging injury. Similarly, waterlogging increased nitrogen concentration in the stem, through mobilisation from senescing leaves. Bud removal enhanced leaf survival and reduced mortality rate after waterlogging; it also increased starch concentration in the lower stem, indicating that storage of assimilates decreased in flowering plants. However, across all treatments, starch concentration was not correlated with waterlogging tolerance.
In the third experiment, the effect of the senescence-promoting factor ethylene on preflowering and flowering plants was assessed, using the ethylene-releasing agent ethephon. Ethephon reduced growth to a slightly greater extent when applied prior to flowering than at flowering.
There was no evidence that inadequate supply of carbohydrates or nitrogen in the stem, or increased sensitivity to ethylene, contributed to waterlogging intolerance in flowering chickpea plants.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barta A L 1988a Response of field grown alfalfa to root waterlogging and shoot removal. I. Plant injury and carbohydrate and mineral content of roots. Agron. J. 80, 889–892.
Barta A L 1988b Response of field grown alfalfa to root waterlogging and shoot removal. II. Nitrogen and fermentation metabolism. Agron. J. 80, 893–896.
Batey I L 1982 Starch analysis using thermo-stable alpha-amylases. Stärke 34, 125–128.
Bishnoi N R and Krishnamoorthy H N 1991 Effect of waterlogging and gibberellic acid on growth and yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Indian J. Plant Physiol. 34, 186–191.
Cowie A L 1993 An examination of factors which affect waterlogging tolerance of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Ph.D. Thesis, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia.
Cowie A L, Jessop R S and MacLeod D A 1996 Effects of waterlogging on chickpeas I. Influence of timing of waterlogging. Plant and Soil 183, 97–103.
Crawford R M and Wollenweber-ratzer B 1992 Influence of L-Ascorbic acid on post-anoxic growth and survival of chickpea seedlings (Cicer arietinum L.). J. Exp. Bot. 43, 703–708.
Drew M C, Sisworo E J and Saker L R 1979 Alleviation of waterlogging damage to young barley plants by application of nitrate and a synthetic cytokinin, and comparison between the effects of waterlogging, nitrogen deficiency and root excision. New Phytol. 82, 315–329.
Evans J 1982 Symbiosis, nitrogen and dry matter distribution in chickpea (Cicer arietinum). Exp. Agric. 18, 339–351.
Everard J D and Drew M C 1989 Mechanisms controlling changes in water movement through the roots ofHelianthus annuus L. during continuous exposure to oxygen deficiency. J. Exp. Bot. 40, 95–104.
Gambrell R P and Patrick W H 1978 Chemical and microbiological properties of anaerobic soils and sediments.In Plant Life in Anaerobic Environments. Eds. D D Hook and R M M Crawford. pp 375–423. Ann Arbor Science, Michigan, USA.
Huang C-Y, Boyer J S and Vanderhoef L N 1975 Acetylene reduction (nitrogen fixation) and metabolic activities of soybean having various leaf and nodule water potentials. Plant Physiol. 56, 222–227.
Hugon É 1962 Mode d'action compare de l'acide gibberellique et de la kinetine dans la dominance apicale chezCicer arietinum L. C. R. Acad. Sci. (Paris) Ser. D 255, 350–352.
Jackson M B 1985 Ethylene and responses of plants to soil waterlogging and submergence. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 36, 145–174.
Jackson M B and Campbell D J 1979 Effects of benzyladenine and gibberellic acid on the responses of tomato plants to anaerobic root environments and to ethylene. New Phytol. 82, 331–340.
Jackson M B and Hall K C 1987 Early stomatal closure in waterlogged pea plants is mediated by abscisic acid in the absence of foliar water deficits. Plant Cell Environ. 10, 121–130.
Khanna-Chopra R and Sinha S K 1987 Chickpea: Physiological aspects of growth and yield.In The Chickpea. Eds. M C Saxena and K B Singh. pp 163–189 CAB, Wallingford, Oxon, UK.
Kozlowski T T and Pallardy S G 1984 Effect of flooding on water, carbohydrate, and mineral relations.In Flooding and Plant Growth. Ed. T T Kozlowski, pp 165–193. Academic Press, Orlando, FL, USA.
Oosterhuis D M, Scott H D, Hampton R E and Wullschleger S D 1990 Physiological responses of two soybean (Glycine max (L.)) cultivars to short-term flooding. Environ. Exp. Bot. 30, 85–92.
Pallas J E and Kays S J 1982 Inhibition of photosynthesis by ethylene-a stomatal effect. Plant Physiol. 70, 598–601.
Papenhuijzen C 1983 Effect of interruption of aeration of the root medium on distribution of dry matter, sugar and starch in young plants ofPhaseolus vulgaris. Acta. Bot. Neerl. 32, 63–67.
Papenhuijzen C and Roos M H 1979 Some changes in the subcellular structure of root cells ofPhaseolus vulgaris as a result of cessation of aeration in the root medium. Acta Bot. Neerl. 28, 491–495.
Pratt H K and Goeschl J D 1969 Physiological roles of ethylene in plants. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 20, 541–584.
Reid D M and Bradford K J 1984 Effects of flooding on hormone relations.In Flooding and Plant Growth. Ed. T T Kozlowski. pp 195–219. Academic Press, Orlando, FL, USA.
Saglio P H 1985 Effect of path or sink anoxia on sugar translocation in roots of maize seedlings. Plant Physiol. 77, 285–290.
Saxena N P and Sheldrake A R 1980 Physiology of growth, development, and yield of chickpeas in India.In Proc. International Workshop on Chickpea Improvement 28 February–2 March 1979. pp 106–120. ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India.
Schildwacht P M 1989 Is a decreased water potential after withholding oxygen to roots the cause of the decline of leaf-elongation rates inZea mays L. andPhaseolus vulgaris L.? Planta 177, 178–184.
Sexton R and Woolhouse H W 1984 Senescence and abscission.In Advanced Plant Physiology. Ed. M B Wilkins. pp 469–497. Pitman, London, UK.
Singh B P, Tucker K A, Sutton J D and Bhardwaj H L 1991 Flooding reduces gas exchange and growth in snap bean. HortScience 26, 372–373.
Sprent J L 1969 Prolonged reduction of acetylene by detached soybean nodules. Planta 88, 372–375.
Thompson J E, Legge R L and Barber R F 1987 The role of free radicals in senescence and wounding. New Phytol. 105, 317–344.
Vu J C V and Yelenosky G 1991 Photosynthetic responses of citrus trees to soil flooding. Physiol. Plant. 81, 7–14.
Wample R L and Davis R W 1983 Effect of flooding on starch accumulation in chloroplasts of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Plant Physiol. 73, 195–198.
Waters I, Kuiper P J C, Watkin E and Greenway H 1991 Effects of anoxia on wheat seedlings. J. Exp. Bot. 42, 1427–1435.
Yang S F and Hoffman N E 1984 Ethylene biosynthesis and its regulation in higher plants. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 35, 155–189.
Zvereva E G and Bartkov B I 1976 Distribution of assimilates in soybeans during fruit growth in flooded soil. Fiziol. Biokhim. Kult. Rast. 8, 204–208.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cowie, A.L., Jessop, R.S. & MacLeod, D.A. Effects of waterlogging on chickpeas II. Possible causes of decreased tolerance of waterlogging at flowering. Plant Soil 183, 105–115 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02185570
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02185570