Supplementary Calcium Restores Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) Growth and Photosynthetic Capacity Under Low Nocturnal Temperature

Qiaobo Song; Yifei Liu; Jiayin Pang; Jean Wan Hong Yong; Yinglong Chen; Chunming Bai; Clément Gille; Qingwen Shi; Di Wu; Xiaori Han; Tianlai Li; Kadambot H M Siddique; Hans Lambers

doi:10.3389/fpls.2019.01637

Supplementary Calcium Restores Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) Growth and Photosynthetic Capacity Under Low Nocturnal Temperature

Front Plant Sci. 2020 Jan 21:10:1637. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.01637. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Qiaobo Song¹, Yifei Liu^{1

2

3

4}, Jiayin Pang^{2

3}, Jean Wan Hong Yong^{4

5}, Yinglong Chen^{2

3}, Chunming Bai⁶, Clément Gille⁴, Qingwen Shi¹, Di Wu¹, Xiaori Han¹, Tianlai Li¹, Kadambot H M Siddique², Hans Lambers^{2

4

7}

Affiliations

¹ College of Land and Environment, National Key Engineering Laboratory for Efficient Utilization of Soil and Fertilizer Resources, Northeast China Plant Nutrition and Fertilization Scientific Observation and Research Station for Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Key Laboratory of Protected Horticulture of Education Ministry and Liaoning Province, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China.
² The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
³ School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
⁴ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
⁵ Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden.
⁶ Liaoning Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenyang, China.
⁷ College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Key Laboratory of Plant-Soil Interactions, Ministry of Education, National Academy of Agriculture Green Development, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is a globally important oil crop, which often experiences poor growth and seedling necrosis under low nocturnal temperatures (LNT). This study assessed the effects of supplementary calcium (Ca²⁺) and a calmodulin inhibitor on peanut growth and photosynthetic characteristics of plants exposed to LNT, followed by recovery at a higher temperature. We monitored key growth and photosynthetic parameters in a climate-controlled chamber in pots containing soil. LNT reduced peanut growth and dry matter accumulation, enhanced leaf nonstructural carbohydrates concentrations and non-photochemical quenching, decreased the electron transport rate, increased the transmembrane proton gradient, and decreased gas exchange rates. In peanuts subjected to LNT, foliar application of Ca²⁺ restored growth, dry matter production and leaf photosynthetic capacity. In particular, the foliar Ca²⁺ application restored temperature-dependent photosynthesis feedback inhibition due to improved growth/sink demand. Foliar sprays of a calmodulin inhibitor further deteriorated the effects of LNT which validated the protective role of Ca²⁺ in facilitating LNT tolerance of peanuts.

Keywords: calcium; growth; low nocturnal temperature; peanut; photosynthesis.