Water deficit affects leaf non-structural carbohydrates and biomass 					partitioning in chickpea1

Roger Vieira  Brandão; Fernando Soares de  Cantuário; Elen Pereira de Paiva  Bento-da-Silva; Marcio  Mesquita; Moemy Gomes de  Moraes

Water deficit affects leaf non-structural carbohydrates and biomass partitioning in chickpea1

Autores

Roger Vieira Brandão

Fernando Soares de Cantuário

Elen Pereira de Paiva Bento-da-Silva

Marcio Mesquita

Moemy Gomes de Moraes

Editor

Universidade Federal de Goiás

Descripción

Water deficit induces morphophysiological adjustments in plants, what includes changes in biomass partitioning, non-structural carbohydrates and their ratios, reducing stomatal conductance and photosynthesis, and affecting the synthesis of transitory starch in leaves. This study analyzed the impact of soil water tensions on leaf non-structural carbohydrates and biomass partitioning during chickpea cultivation. The BRS Aleppo and BRS Toro genotypes were grown at soil water potentials of -30, -50, -70 and -90 kPa throughout the cycle. The water status, shoot and root dry mass, non-structural carbohydrate content and carbohydrate ratios were assessed. Decreasing the soil water potential reduced the relative water content and shoot dry mass of both genotypes. However, the BRS Toro´s root dry mass increased with the reduction in the soil water potential, as did the root:shoot ratio, in both genotypes. The genotypes also showed variations in the contents of soluble carbohydrates and starch in leaves, which increased with the reduction in the soil water potential, except for starch in leaves of the BRS Toro. These findings, especially variations in the carbohydrate ratios, suggest that the starch turnover is essential in chickpeas´ resilience to water deficit.