Abstract
The responses of two sugar beet genotypes, 24367 (putative droughttolerant) and N6 (putative drought intolerant), to drought and nutrientdeficiency stress were investigated in an attempt to identify reliable andsensitive indicators of stress tolerance. In glasshouse-grown plants of bothgenotypes, relative water content (RWC) of the leaves decreased and leaftemperature increased in response to drought stress. Genotype differences inresponse to drought included leaf RWC, glycine betaine accumulation, alterationof shoot/root ratio and production of fibrous roots. Thus, in comparison to N6,genotype 24367 lost less water from leaves, produced more fibrous roots,produced more glycine betaine in shoots and tap roots and had a much reducedshoot/root ratio in response to withholding water for up to 215 h.The hydraulic conductance and sap flow of sugar beet seedlings grown innutrientculture decreased when subjected to nitrogen deficiency stress. Under nitrogensufficient conditions sap flow was greater in 24367 than in N6. The resultsindicate that genotype 24367 is more tolerant to stresses induced by water andnitrogen deficiency and that increased fibrous root development may be a majorfactor in increasing sap flow via a concomitant enhancement of aquaporinactivity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdollahian-Noghabi M. and Froud-Williams R.J. 1998. Effect of moisture stress and re-watering on growth and dry matter partitioning in three cultivars of sugar beet. Aspects Appl. Biol. 52: 71–78.
Bell C.I., Jones J., Milford G.F.J. and Leigh R.A. 1992. The effects of crop nutrition on sugar beet quality. Aspects Appl. Biol. 32: 19–26.
Carvajal M., Cooke D.T. and Clarkson D.T. 1998. The lipid bilayer and aquaporins; parallel pathways for water movement into plant cells. Plant Growth Regul. 25: 89–95.
Clarke N.A., Hetschkun H., Jones C., Boswell E. and Marfaing H. 1993. Identification of stress tolerance traits in sugar beet. In: Jackson M.B. and Black C.R. (eds), Interaction Stresses on Plants in a Changing Climate. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 511–524.
Clarke N.A., Hetschkun H.M. and Thomas T.H. 1996. Stress mechanisms in sugar beet. In: Fenwick G.R., Hedley C., Richards R.L. and Khokhar S. (eds), Agri-Food Quality. An Interdisciplinary Approach. The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, pp. 75–78.
Clarkson D.T., Carvajal M., Henzler T., Waterhouse R.N., Smyth A.J., Cooke D.T. et al. 2000. Root hydraulic conductance: diurnal aquaporin expression and the effects of nutrient stress. J. Expt. Bot. 51: 61–70.
Clawson K.L. and Blad B.L. 1982. Infrared thermometry for scheduling irrigation of corn. Agronomy J. 74: 311–316.
Draycott A.P. 1993. Nutrition. In: Cooke D.A. and Scott R.K. (eds), The Sugar Beet Crop, Science into Practice. Chapman &; Hall, London, pp. 239–278.
Dunham R. and Clarke N.A. 1992. Coping with Stress. British Sugar Beet Rev. 66: 10–13.
Ehrler W.L., Idso S.B., Jackson R.D. and Reginato R.J. 1978. Wheat canopy temperature: relation to plant water potential. Agronomy J. 70: 251–256.
Hendry G.A.F., Houghton J.D. and Brown S.B. 1987. Tansley Review No. 11–The degradation of chlorophyll-a biological Enigma. New Phytol. 107: 255–302.
Kramer R.K. 1980. Drought stress and the origin of adaptations. In: Turner N.C. and Kramer P.K. (eds), Adaptation of Plant to Water and High Temperature Stress. JohnWiley and Sons, New York, pp. 7–20.
Lourtie E., Bonnet M. and Bosschaert L. 1995. New glyphosate screening technique by infrared thermometry. Fourth International Symposium on Adjuvants for Agrochemicals, Australia, pp. 297–302.
Marschner H. 1995. Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants. 2nd edn. Academic Press, London, p. 889.
Mickelbart M.V., Ejeta G., Rhodes D., Joly R.J. and Goldsbrough P.B. 1997. Assessing the contribution of glycine betaine to environmental stress tolerance in sorghum, http://www.cimmyt-.mx/Research/ABC/WSMolecular/WSdroughtAssessing.
Pidgeon J.D. and Jaggard K.W. 1998. Drought stress in sugar beet–the extent of the problem and future solutions. Aspects Appl. Biol. 52: 65–70.
Thomas T.H. 1993. Effects of root restriction and growth regulator treatments on the growth of carrot (Daucus carota L.) seedlings. Plant Growth Regul. 13: 55–101.
Upreti K.K., Murti G.S.R. and Bhatt R.M. 1998. Response of French bean cultivars to water deficits: Changes in endogenous hormones, proline and chlorophyll. Biologia Plant 40: 381–388.
Weatherly P.E. 1949. Studies in the water relations of the cotton plant. I. The field measurement of water deficits in leaves. New Phytol. 49: 81–97.
Wyn Jones R.G. and Storey R. 1978. Salt stress and comparative physiology in the Gramineae. II. Glycine betaine and proline accumulation in two salt-and water-stressed barley cultivars. Australian J. Pl. Physiol. 5: 817–829.
Zayed M.A. and Zeid I.M. 1998. Effect of water and salt stress on growth, chlorophyll, mineral ions and organic solutes contents, and enzyme activity in mung bean seedlings. Biologia Plant 40: 351–356.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shaw, B., Thomas, T. & Cooke, D. Responses of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) to drought and nutrient deficiency stress. Plant Growth Regulation 37, 77–83 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020381513976
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020381513976