Growth form and yield responses of four cotton cultivars to ozone

Journal Article · · Agronomy Journal; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1990.00021962008200060003x· OSTI ID:5718315

Temple, P J ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Riverside (USA)

Cultivars of crop plants can differ widely in their susceptibilities to yield losses induced by the air pollutant ozone (O{sub 3}), but relatively little is known of the physiological mechanisms that account for these differences. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars differ in degree of determinance, which may affect cultivar responses to O{sub 3} through effects on rates of maturation of the cultivars. Four cultivars of cotton grown in the field on a Hanford coarse sandy loam (coarse-loamy, mixed, nonacid, Thermic Xerorthents) were exposed to three levels of O{sub 3} in open-top chambers to determine their relative susceptibility to O{sub 3} and to relate differences in susceptibility to morphological and physiological characteristics of the cultivars. Susceptibility to O{sub 3}-induced yield losses in these cultivars was directly correlated with degree of determinance so that cultivar rank in order of both increasing determinance and susceptibility to O{sub 3} was: SJ-2 < C1 < GC510 < SS2086. Differences among the cultivars in susceptibility to O{sub 3} were not associated with differences in rates of stomatal conductance. Instead, determinate cultivars appeared to be more susceptible to O{sub 3} because periods of peak flowering and boll set coincided with periods of high O{sub 3} concentration. Also, indeterminate cultivars appeared to have greater flexibility in altering branching patterns in response to O{sub 3}-induced leaf abscission than did determinate lines. Since most high-yielding, short-season cotton cultivars have a determinate growth habit, these results suggest that production from short-season cotton cultivars may be limited by the prevalence of O{sub 3} air pollution in many cotton-growing regions of the USA.

• OSTI ID: 5718315
• Journal Information: Agronomy Journal; (USA), Journal Name: Agronomy Journal; (USA) Vol. 82:6; ISSN 0002-1962; ISSN AGJOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540110*
551000 -- Physiological Systems
553000 -- Agriculture &amp; Food Technology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COTTON PLANTS
LOAM
MAGNOLIOPHYTA
MAGNOLIOPSIDA
NORTH AMERICA
OPENINGS
OZONE
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
PLANTS
POLLUTION
SOILS
STOMATA
SYNTHESIS
TOXICITY
USA