Effects of water stress on root growth and yield of line pepper
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DOI:10.7606/j.issn.1000-7601.2014.04.006
Key Words: water stress  line pepper  root growth  yield
Author NameAffiliation
NIE Wei-yan1, ZHAO Zun-lian1, XIA Yun-fei1, FANG Qing-peng1, HU Jian-chao1, GUO Chang-mei1, SHI Lian-lian2, XU Nai-lin2, GUO Jian-wei1 (1.西北农林科技大学园艺学院 陕西 杨凌 712100 2.宝鸡市农业技术推广服务中心 陕西 宝鸡 721001) 
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Abstract:
      With the two varieties Duojiao and Xinxiang No.8 that were widely planted in Central Shaanxi in China as test materials, a pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of water stress on morphological development of roots and yield of line pepper. There were 5 water treatments, i.e., T1 (RWC 40%~50%), T2 (RWC 50%~60%), T3 (RWC 60%~70%), T4 (RWC 70%~80%) and CK (RWC 80%~90%). The total root length per plant, root volume, root surface area, number of root tips, number of root crosses, number of root branches, average root diameter, root/shoot ratio, fruit number and yield per plant were measured. The results showed that the growth rate of total root length, root volume, root surface area, number of root tips, number of root crosses and number of root branches per plant was decreased or even became negative during the 20th~40th days after water stress, which was thought to be the most sensitive period of pepper roots to water stress. Among the different treatments, the total root length, root volume, root surface area, number of root tips, number of root crosses and number of root branches per plant performed as: CK>T4>T3>T2>T1. T1 and T2 inhibited the growth of roots significantly during the whole period of water stress, while T3 and T4 did mainly during the 20th~40th days after water stress. During the whole period of stress, the root/shoot ratio and average root diameter under all water stress treatments were greater than that under the control. This indicated that the absorbed water was preferentially utilized to ensure the growth of roots under water stress, and the stress treatments were not conducive to the growth of fine roots and the appearance of lateral roots. The fruit number and yield per plant decreased with the reduction of soil moisture content. Under water stress treatments, the inhibition degree of root growth and the decrease rate of yield per plant in Xinxiang No.8 were larger than that in Duojiao, therefore the drought tolerance of Xinxiang No.8 was less than that of Duojiao.