Stomatal–Hydraulic Coordination Mechanisms of Wheat in Response to Atmospheric–Soil Drought and Rewatering
Drought stress severely limits agricultural productivity, with atmospheric and soil water deficits often occurring simultaneously in field conditions. While plant responses to individual drought factors are well-documented, recovery mechanisms following combined atmospheric–soil drought remain poorl...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/13/1375 |
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| author | Lijuan Wang Yanqun Zhang Hao Li Xinlong Hu Pancen Feng Yan Mo Shihong Gong |
| author_facet | Lijuan Wang Yanqun Zhang Hao Li Xinlong Hu Pancen Feng Yan Mo Shihong Gong |
| author_sort | Lijuan Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Drought stress severely limits agricultural productivity, with atmospheric and soil water deficits often occurring simultaneously in field conditions. While plant responses to individual drought factors are well-documented, recovery mechanisms following combined atmospheric–soil drought remain poorly understood, hindering drought resistance strategies and irrigation optimization. We set up two VPD treatments (low and high vapor pressure deficit) and two soil moisture treatments (CK: control soil moisture with sufficient irrigation, 85–95% field capacity; drought: soil moisture with deficit irrigation, 50–60% field capacity) in the pot experiment. We investigated wheat’s hydraulic transport (leaf hydraulic conductance, <i>K</i><sub>leaf</sub>) and gas exchange (stomatal conductance, <i>g<sub>s</sub></i>; photosynthetic rate, <i>A</i><sub>n</sub>) responses to combined drought stress from atmospheric and soil conditions at the heading stage, as well as rewatering 55 days after treatment initiation. The results revealed that: (1) high VPD and soil drought significantly reduced leaf hydraulic conductance (<i>K</i><sub>leaf</sub>), with a high VPD decreasing <i>K</i><sub>leaf</sub> by 31.6% and soil drought reducing <i>K</i><sub>leaf</sub> by 33.2%; The high VPD decreased stomatal conductance (<i>g</i><sub>s</sub>) by 43.6% but the photosynthetic rate (<i>A</i><sub>n</sub>) by only 12.3%; (2) After rewatering, <i>g</i><sub>s</sub> and <i>A</i><sub>n</sub> of atmospheric and soil drought recovered relatively rapidly, while <i>K</i><sub>leaf</sub> did not; (3) Atmospheric and soil drought stress led to adaptive changes in wheat’s stomatal regulation strategies, with an increasing severity of drought stress characterized by a shift from non-conservative to conservative water regulation behavior. These findings elucidate wheat’s hydraulic–stomatal coordination mechanisms under drought stress and their differential recovery patterns, providing theoretical foundation for improved irrigation management practices. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9348e6ea04bf48a58f26f9b7638ed82e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj-art-9348e6ea04bf48a58f26f9b7638ed82e2025-08-20T03:28:24ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722025-06-011513137510.3390/agriculture15131375Stomatal–Hydraulic Coordination Mechanisms of Wheat in Response to Atmospheric–Soil Drought and RewateringLijuan Wang0Yanqun Zhang1Hao Li2Xinlong Hu3Pancen Feng4Yan Mo5Shihong Gong6State Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Water Security in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, ChinaDrought stress severely limits agricultural productivity, with atmospheric and soil water deficits often occurring simultaneously in field conditions. While plant responses to individual drought factors are well-documented, recovery mechanisms following combined atmospheric–soil drought remain poorly understood, hindering drought resistance strategies and irrigation optimization. We set up two VPD treatments (low and high vapor pressure deficit) and two soil moisture treatments (CK: control soil moisture with sufficient irrigation, 85–95% field capacity; drought: soil moisture with deficit irrigation, 50–60% field capacity) in the pot experiment. We investigated wheat’s hydraulic transport (leaf hydraulic conductance, <i>K</i><sub>leaf</sub>) and gas exchange (stomatal conductance, <i>g<sub>s</sub></i>; photosynthetic rate, <i>A</i><sub>n</sub>) responses to combined drought stress from atmospheric and soil conditions at the heading stage, as well as rewatering 55 days after treatment initiation. The results revealed that: (1) high VPD and soil drought significantly reduced leaf hydraulic conductance (<i>K</i><sub>leaf</sub>), with a high VPD decreasing <i>K</i><sub>leaf</sub> by 31.6% and soil drought reducing <i>K</i><sub>leaf</sub> by 33.2%; The high VPD decreased stomatal conductance (<i>g</i><sub>s</sub>) by 43.6% but the photosynthetic rate (<i>A</i><sub>n</sub>) by only 12.3%; (2) After rewatering, <i>g</i><sub>s</sub> and <i>A</i><sub>n</sub> of atmospheric and soil drought recovered relatively rapidly, while <i>K</i><sub>leaf</sub> did not; (3) Atmospheric and soil drought stress led to adaptive changes in wheat’s stomatal regulation strategies, with an increasing severity of drought stress characterized by a shift from non-conservative to conservative water regulation behavior. These findings elucidate wheat’s hydraulic–stomatal coordination mechanisms under drought stress and their differential recovery patterns, providing theoretical foundation for improved irrigation management practices.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/13/1375drought recoveryvapor pressure deficitleaf hydraulic conductancestomatal regulationhydraulic–stomatal coordination |
| spellingShingle | Lijuan Wang Yanqun Zhang Hao Li Xinlong Hu Pancen Feng Yan Mo Shihong Gong Stomatal–Hydraulic Coordination Mechanisms of Wheat in Response to Atmospheric–Soil Drought and Rewatering Agriculture drought recovery vapor pressure deficit leaf hydraulic conductance stomatal regulation hydraulic–stomatal coordination |
| title | Stomatal–Hydraulic Coordination Mechanisms of Wheat in Response to Atmospheric–Soil Drought and Rewatering |
| title_full | Stomatal–Hydraulic Coordination Mechanisms of Wheat in Response to Atmospheric–Soil Drought and Rewatering |
| title_fullStr | Stomatal–Hydraulic Coordination Mechanisms of Wheat in Response to Atmospheric–Soil Drought and Rewatering |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stomatal–Hydraulic Coordination Mechanisms of Wheat in Response to Atmospheric–Soil Drought and Rewatering |
| title_short | Stomatal–Hydraulic Coordination Mechanisms of Wheat in Response to Atmospheric–Soil Drought and Rewatering |
| title_sort | stomatal hydraulic coordination mechanisms of wheat in response to atmospheric soil drought and rewatering |
| topic | drought recovery vapor pressure deficit leaf hydraulic conductance stomatal regulation hydraulic–stomatal coordination |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/13/1375 |
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