Paper · 2025 · Plants

Genotypic Variation in Photosynthesis and Biomass Partitioning Underlies Agronomic Performance and Cannabinoid Profile in Cannabis sativa Under Drought

Mateus M. Pena; Felipe R. Miranda; Thiago O. Ribeiro; et al.

11
claims
27
verbatim quotes
0
citations
2
research areas
✓
Open access · cc-by

Abstract

Drought is a major constraint on Cannabis sativa productivity and cannabinoid yield, yet the physiological mechanisms underlying genotypic variation in drought responses remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that (i) more vigorous genotypes would sustain higher photosynthetic rates, (ii) drought would constrain photosynthesis through both diffusional and non-diffusional limitations, and (iii) water deficits would alter cannabinoid production in a genotype-dependent manner. To test these hypotheses, two contrasting genotypes (one tetrahydrocannabinol- (THC) dominant and another cannabidiol- (CBD) dominant) were grown under greenhouse conditions, with water deficit imposed at early flowering. Water deficit induced neither osmotic nor elastic adjustment in either genotype. Although CBD plants accumulated more biomass, they did not exhibit higher photosynthetic rates under well-watered conditions. Under drought, THC plants relied primarily on stomatal regulation, whereas CBD plants showed additional nonstomatal impairments, resulting in stronger declines in photosynthesis. Despite contrasting photoprotective adjustments, both genotypes converged to similar oxidative damage, suggesting that photoprotection was not decisive for their physiological divergence. At the agronomic level, THC plants maintained a higher harvest index under drought, greater baseline cannabinoid concentrations, and inflorescence biomass with higher energetic value. In CBD plants, drought-induced reductions in cannabinoid content and harvest index largely reflected greater photosynthetic impairment and less efficient carbon use. Overall, the resilience of C. sativa to drought imposed at early flowering appears to depend less on hydraulic stability and more on sustaining photosynthetic performance, secondary metabolism, and efficient biomass partitioning. These traits represent key targets for breeding genotypes better adapted to cultivation under increasingly variable water availability.

Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗

The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.

Claims 11

Observationobservedoriginal resultmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

CBD-dominant plants accumulated more biomass than THC-dominant plants.

Taxon
Cannabis sativaCannabis sativat0
Material
CBD plantse0
Outcome
biomasse0
Direction
accumulated moree0
Setting
greenhouse conditionse1

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa · TaxonThayne Tuason · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“in Cannabis sativa Under Drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 119–151 · show in text ↑
e0

“Although CBD plants accumulated more biomass, they did not exhibit higher photosynthetic rates under well-watered conditions”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 785–909 · show in text ↑
e1

“two contrasting genotypes (one tetrahydrocannabinol- (THC) dominant and another cannabidiol- (CBD) dominant) were grown under greenhouse conditions, with water deficit imposed at early flowering”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 508–702 · show in text ↑
Observationobservedoriginal resultno effectmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

CBD-dominant plants did not show higher photosynthetic rates than THC-dominant plants under well-watered conditions.

Taxon
Cannabis sativaCannabis sativat0
Material
CBD plantse0
Treatment
well-watered conditionse0
Outcome
photosynthetic ratese0
Direction
did not exhibit highere0
Setting
greenhouse conditionse1

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa · TaxonThayne Tuason · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“in Cannabis sativa Under Drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 119–151 · show in text ↑
e0

“Although CBD plants accumulated more biomass, they did not exhibit higher photosynthetic rates under well-watered conditions”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 785–909 · show in text ↑
e1

“two contrasting genotypes (one tetrahydrocannabinol- (THC) dominant and another cannabidiol- (CBD) dominant) were grown under greenhouse conditions, with water deficit imposed at early flowering”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 508–702 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultnegativemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Under drought, photosynthesis declined more strongly in CBD-dominant plants than in THC-dominant plants.

Taxon
Cannabis sativaCannabis sativat0
Material
CBD plantse0
Treatment
Under droughte0
Outcome
photosynthesise0
Direction
stronger declinese0
Comparator
THC plantse0
Setting
greenhouse conditionse1

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa · TaxonThayne Tuason · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“in Cannabis sativa Under Drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 119–151 · show in text ↑
e0

“Under drought, THC plants relied primarily on stomatal regulation, whereas CBD plants showed additional nonstomatal impairments, resulting in stronger declines in photosynthesis”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 911–1088 · show in text ↑
e1

“two contrasting genotypes (one tetrahydrocannabinol- (THC) dominant and another cannabidiol- (CBD) dominant) were grown under greenhouse conditions, with water deficit imposed at early flowering”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 508–702 · show in text ↑
Observationobservedoriginal resultmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Under drought, THC-dominant plants relied primarily on stomatal regulation.

Taxon
Cannabis sativaCannabis sativat0
Material
THC plantse0
Treatment
Under droughte0
Outcome
stomatal regulatione0

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa · TaxonThayne Tuason · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“in Cannabis sativa Under Drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 119–151 · show in text ↑
e0

“Under drought, THC plants relied primarily on stomatal regulation, whereas CBD plants showed additional nonstomatal impairments, resulting in stronger declines in photosynthesis”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 911–1088 · show in text ↑
Observationobservedoriginal resultno effectmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Water deficit induced neither osmotic nor elastic adjustment in either genotype.

Taxon
Cannabis sativaCannabis sativat0
Treatment
Water deficite0
Outcome
osmotic nor elastic adjustmente0

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa · TaxonThayne Tuason · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“in Cannabis sativa Under Drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 119–151 · show in text ↑
e0

“Water deficit induced neither osmotic nor elastic adjustment in either genotype”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 704–783 · show in text ↑
Observationobservedoriginal resultno effectmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Both genotypes converged to similar oxidative damage under drought.

Taxon
Cannabis sativaCannabis sativat0
Outcome
oxidative damagee0

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa · TaxonThayne Tuason · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“in Cannabis sativa Under Drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 119–151 · show in text ↑
e0

“both genotypes converged to similar oxidative damage”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1139–1191 · show in text ↑
Mechanismauthor interpretationoriginal resultno effectbasis n/a

Claim · model-written summary

Photoprotection was not decisive for the physiological divergence between the two genotypes.

Taxon
Cannabis sativaCannabis sativat0
Outcome
physiological divergencee0
Qualifier
photoprotection was not decisivee0

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa · TaxonThayne Tuason · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“in Cannabis sativa Under Drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 119–151 · show in text ↑
e0

“suggesting that photoprotection was not decisive for their physiological divergence”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1193–1276 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultpositivemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

THC-dominant plants maintained a higher harvest index under drought.

Taxon
Cannabis sativaCannabis sativat0
Material
THC plantse0
Treatment
under droughte0
Outcome
harvest indexe0
Direction
maintained a highere0

Not reportedComparator

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa · TaxonThayne Tuason · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“in Cannabis sativa Under Drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 119–151 · show in text ↑
e0

“THC plants maintained a higher harvest index under drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1302–1360 · show in text ↑
Observationobservedoriginal resultmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

THC-dominant plants had greater baseline cannabinoid concentrations.

Taxon
Cannabis sativaCannabis sativat0
Material
THC plantse0
Outcome
baseline cannabinoid concentrationse1
Direction
greatere1

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa · TaxonThayne Tuason · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“in Cannabis sativa Under Drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 119–151 · show in text ↑
e0

“THC plants maintained a higher harvest index under drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1302–1360 · show in text ↑
e1

“greater baseline cannabinoid concentrations”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1362–1405 · show in text ↑
Observationobservedoriginal resultmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Inflorescence biomass of THC-dominant plants had higher energetic value.

Taxon
Cannabis sativaCannabis sativat0
Material
THC plantse0
Organ / stage
inflorescence biomasse1
Outcome
energetic valuee1
Direction
highere1

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa · TaxonThayne Tuason · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“in Cannabis sativa Under Drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 119–151 · show in text ↑
e0

“THC plants maintained a higher harvest index under drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1302–1360 · show in text ↑
e1

“inflorescence biomass with higher energetic value”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1411–1460 · show in text ↑
Intervention effectobservedoriginal resultnegativemeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Under drought, CBD-dominant plants showed reductions in cannabinoid content and harvest index.

Taxon
Cannabis sativaCannabis sativat0
Material
CBD plantse0
Treatment
droughte0
Outcome
cannabinoid content and harvest indexe0
Direction
reductionse0

Not reportedComparator

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Cannabis sativa
Cannabis sativa · TaxonThayne Tuason · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“in Cannabis sativa Under Drought”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 119–151 · show in text ↑
e0

“In CBD plants, drought-induced reductions in cannabinoid content and harvest index largely reflected greater photosynthetic impairment and less efficient carbon use”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1462–1626 · show in text ↑

drought · yield · Cannabis sativaPositive and negative results

4 papers: 3 positive, 1 negative or no effect

2 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction

  1. negative
  2. positive
  3. positive
See all 4 papers →

drought · physiology: photosynthesis · Cannabis sativaPositive and negative results

5 papers: 1 positive, 4 negative or no effect

3 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction

  1. negative
  2. positive
  3. negative

1 paper more in this group

See all 5 papers →

Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.