The compensation effect of re-watering after drought has been widely reported in various crops during different growth stages. It is considered as an important self-regulation mechanism for plants to resist abiotic stresses and also an efficient utilization of limited water resource. In this study, two rounds of re-watering after drought treatments were carried out during tuber expansion period of potato, to investigate the drought threshold of potato and explore the potential mechanisms of compensation effect with source-sink aspect. We used virus-free plantlets of "Atlantic" potato as experimental materials. Four treatments were included: sufficient water supply (W), re-watering after mild drought (D1-W), re-watering after medium drought (D2-W) and re-watering after severe drought (D3-W). The results showed that potato yield exhibited an over-compensation effect after two rounds of D1-W treatment, with water use efficiency and yield being increased by 17.5% and 6.3%, respectively, compared with the sufficient water supply. D2-W treatment had no significant effect on potato yield, but water use efficiency was increased by 8.4%, indicating a near-equivalent compensation effect. On the contrary, D3-W treatment did not show any compensation effect in yield. In addition, leaf chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, and leaf area were all reduced after drought treatment, indicating a reduction in "source" size and activity. After re-watering, D1-W and D2-W treatments showed over-compensation and compensation effects through improving source supply capacity. Meanwhile, re-watering after moderate drought increased the sink activity through significantly enhancing the activities of key enzymes in tubers (sink), thus increased the average weight of tubers. In conclusion, re-watering after moderate drought stress during potato tuber expansion period had compensation and over-compensation effects on both source and sink, and thus could compensate for the drought-induced yield loss and improve water use efficiency.
旱后复水的补偿效应在多种作物的不同生育时期都存在,是植物抵抗逆境胁迫和伤害的重要自我调节机制,也是对有限水分高效利用的体现.本研究在马铃薯块茎膨大期进行两轮干旱后复水处理,明确马铃薯补偿效应产生的干旱胁迫阈值,并从源-库角度探索马铃薯旱后复水补偿效应产生的缘由.试验选取‘大西洋’马铃薯脱毒组培苗为材料,设置充分供水(W)、轻度干旱后复水(D1-W)、中度干旱后复水(D2-W)和重度干旱后复水(D3-W)4个水分处理并经过两个循环.结果表明:在经过两轮轻度干旱复水后,马铃薯产量表现出超补偿效应,水分利用效率和产量比充分供水分别提高了17.5%和6.3%;中度水分胁迫表现出近等量补偿效应,产量与充分供水差异不大,而水分利用效率提高了8.4%;而重度水分胁迫没有表现出产量补偿效应.不同程度的干旱胁迫均降低马铃薯叶片叶绿素含量、净光合速率、叶面积等源的大小和活性,而在复水后,轻度和中度胁迫出现了超补偿和补偿效应,增强了源的供应能力.同时,适度干旱后复水显著增强了块茎(库)中蔗糖-淀粉代谢途径关键酶的活性,提高了库活性,进而表现为块茎平均重量的增加.综上,马铃薯块茎膨大期适度的水分亏缺在复水后源-库均存在补偿和超补偿效应,以此来弥补干旱带来的损失,最终在产量上表现为补偿或者超补偿效应,并显著提高了水分利用效率.
Keywords: compensation effect; drought stress; re-watering; source-sink.