Abstract
This study investigated the effects of rootstock selection and deficit irrigation on the growth, physiological, and photosynthetic performance of young ‘W. Murcott’ mandarin trees. A two-way ANOVA was conducted to evaluate the impact of rootstocks (sour orange, Carrizo citrange, and Volkameriana) and deficit irrigation treatments (40%, 50%, and 70% of field capacity as control) on various plant parameters. Results revealed that rootstock diameter, scion diameter, leaf chlorophyll concentration (Chl), fresh weight, total dry weight, and photosynthetic rate (PN) were significantly influenced by rootstocks and/or deficit irrigation treatments. Deficit irrigation significantly reduced plant height, fresh and dry weights, rootstock diameter, Chl, Fv’/Fm’ (chlorophyll fluorescence), and PN, while scion diameter, stomatal conductance, and water-use efficiency (WUE) remained unaffected. Among rootstocks, sour orange exhibited the highest Chl and Fv’/Fm’ values under water stress, indicating greater drought tolerance, despite showing lower growth compared to Carrizo and Volkameriana. Conversely, Carrizo and Volkameriana rootstocks demonstrated higher fresh and dry weights under optimal irrigation but were more sensitive to water stress. Photosynthetic rate was highest in sour orange-grafted plants under deficit irrigation, while transpiration rates were highest in control plants. These findings suggest that sour orange rootstock may enhance drought resilience by maintaining photosynthetic efficiency and chlorophyll integrity, albeit at the cost of reduced vegetative growth. At the end of this study, it was determined that W. Murcott seedlings grafted onto sour orange rootstock were more tolerant compared to the other two rootstocks.
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Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Rootstock and/or deficit irrigation significantly influenced rootstock and scion diameters, chlorophyll, fresh and dry weights and photosynthetic rate.
- Taxon
- W. Murcottt0
- Treatment
- deficit irrigation treatmentse0
- Outcome
- rootstock diameter, scion diameter, leaf chlorophyll concentration (Chl)e0
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
e0“rootstock diameter, scion diameter, leaf chlorophyll concentration (Chl), fresh weight, total dry weight, and photosynthetic rate (PN) were significantly influenced by rootstocks and/or deficit irrigation treatments”
t0“W. Murcott”
Claim · model-written summary
Deficit irrigation significantly reduced plant height, fresh and dry weights and rootstock diameter.
- Taxon
- W. Murcottt0
- Treatment
- Deficit irrigatione0
- Outcome
- plant height, fresh and dry weights, rootstock diametere0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Deficit irrigation significantly reduced plant height, fresh and dry weights, rootstock diameter, Chl, Fv’/Fm’ (chlorophyll fluorescence), and PN”
t0“W. Murcott”
Claim · model-written summary
Deficit irrigation significantly reduced chlorophyll, fluorescence and photosynthetic rate.
- Taxon
- W. Murcottt0
- Treatment
- Deficit irrigatione0
- Outcome
- Chl, Fv’/Fm’ (chlorophyll fluorescence), and PNe0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Deficit irrigation significantly reduced plant height, fresh and dry weights, rootstock diameter, Chl, Fv’/Fm’ (chlorophyll fluorescence), and PN”
t0“W. Murcott”
Claim · model-written summary
Scion diameter, stomatal conductance and water use efficiency were unaffected by deficit irrigation.
- Taxon
- W. Murcottt0
- Treatment
- Deficit irrigatione0
- Outcome
- scion diameter, stomatal conductance, and water-use efficiency (WUE)e0
- Direction
- remained unaffectede0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Deficit irrigation significantly reduced plant height, fresh and dry weights, rootstock diameter, Chl, Fv’/Fm’ (chlorophyll fluorescence), and PN, while scion diameter, stomatal conductance, and water-use efficiency (WUE) remained unaffected”
t0“W. Murcott”
Claim · model-written summary
Sour orange had the highest chlorophyll and fluorescence under water stress.
Verbatim
e0“sour orange exhibited the highest Chl and Fv’/Fm’ values under water stress”
t0“W. Murcott”
Claim · model-written summary
Sour orange showed lower growth than Carrizo and Volkameriana.
Verbatim
e0“sour orange exhibited the highest Chl and Fv’/Fm’ values under water stress, indicating greater drought tolerance, despite showing lower growth compared to Carrizo and Volkameriana”
t0“W. Murcott”
Claim · model-written summary
Carrizo and Volkameriana had higher fresh and dry weights under optimal irrigation.
Verbatim
e0“Carrizo and Volkameriana rootstocks demonstrated higher fresh and dry weights under optimal irrigation”
t0“W. Murcott”
Claim · model-written summary
Carrizo and Volkameriana were more sensitive to water stress.
Verbatim
e0“Carrizo and Volkameriana rootstocks demonstrated higher fresh and dry weights under optimal irrigation but were more sensitive to water stress”
t0“W. Murcott”
Claim · model-written summary
Sour orange grafted plants had the highest photosynthetic rate under deficit irrigation.
Verbatim
e0“Photosynthetic rate was highest in sour orange-grafted plants under deficit irrigation”
t0“W. Murcott”
Claim · model-written summary
Transpiration was highest in control plants.
Verbatim
e0“transpiration rates were highest in control plants”
t0“W. Murcott”
Claim · model-written summary
Sour orange grafted seedlings were more drought tolerant than those on the other two rootstocks.
Verbatim
e0“W. Murcott seedlings grafted onto sour orange rootstock were more tolerant compared to the other two rootstocks”