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CROP PHYSIOLOGY & METABOLISM

Carbon Isotope Discrimination as a Tool to Improve Water-Use Efficiency in Tomato

^a Dep. of Forestry, Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OK 74078 USA

bcm{at}soilwater.agr.okstate.edu

Carbon isotope discrimination () is a property that may be used to improve water-use efficiency (WUE). This study tested the association between and WUE with plant materials and growth conditions likely to disrupt the link between and WUE. The cultivated tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. UC82B, a drought-resistant related species, L. pennellii (Cor.) D'Arcy accession LA716, and the F₁ and F₂ generations of the L. esculentum x L. pennellii cross were grown in containers in wet and dry field environments. The wet environment was repeated in a second year and plants were split into groups terminated early and late in the season. The F₁ generation had greater mean WUE and dry weight (DW) than L. esculentum, but the DW advantage was not maintained in the F₂ generation. Low of L. pennellii suggested that leaf WUE was high, but its whole plant WUE varied relative to the other plant materials in the different environments. There was a negative correlation between and WUE in the F₂ generation, and WUE was generally positively correlated with DW. However, low was associated with large DW in only one environment and with small DW in three environments. Averaged across environments, the top 10% of the plants ranked by WUE had 47% greater WUE than the bottom 10%. In comparison, the bottom 10% ranked by had an average of 16% greater WUE than the top group, but in three of the four environments the bottom group accumulated 33 to 47% less DW than the top group. This study on tomato suggests that WUE can be increased by selecting low , but selecting low alone may identify a subpopulation of small plants. Dry weight could probably be increased by traditional breeding techniques.

Abbreviations: DW, dry weight • e_a, e_i, partial pressure of water vapor in the air and the intercellular air spaces • p_a, p_i, partial pressure of CO₂ in the air and the intercellular air spaces • S/R, shoot/root ratio (w/w) • WU, water use • WUE, water-use efficiency • , stable carbon isotope discrimination • _c, respiratory CO₂ loss as a fraction of daily CO₂ fixation • _w, uncontrolled water loss as a fraction of the daytime stomatal water loss

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