Physiological Investigation of Drought Stress Tolerance of ‘W. Murcott’ Mandarin Grafted onto ‘Carrizo’, ‘Sour Orange’, and ‘Volkameriana’ Rootstocks
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) an...
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| author | Meral Incesu Berken Cimen Bilge Yilmaz Turgut Yesiloglu Merve Ilhan |
| author_facet | Meral Incesu Berken Cimen Bilge Yilmaz Turgut Yesiloglu Merve Ilhan |
| author_sort | Meral Incesu |
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| description | 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 (P<i><sub>N</sub></i>) were significantly influenced by rootstocks and/or deficit irrigation treatments. Deficit irrigation significantly reduced plant height, fresh and dry weights, rootstock diameter, Chl, <i>Fv’</i>/<i>Fm’</i> (chlorophyll fluorescence), and P<i><sub>N</sub></i>, while scion diameter, stomatal conductance, and water-use efficiency (WUE) remained unaffected. Among rootstocks, sour orange exhibited the highest Chl and <i>Fv’</i>/<i>Fm’</i> 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. |
| format | Article |
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| issn | 2311-7524 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
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| series | Horticulturae |
| spelling | doaj-art-c8a38234dfd04fa9b18868fcd2a1511f2025-08-20T02:28:14ZengMDPI AGHorticulturae2311-75242025-03-0111436510.3390/horticulturae11040365Physiological Investigation of Drought Stress Tolerance of ‘W. Murcott’ Mandarin Grafted onto ‘Carrizo’, ‘Sour Orange’, and ‘Volkameriana’ RootstocksMeral Incesu0Berken Cimen1Bilge Yilmaz2Turgut Yesiloglu3Merve Ilhan4Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Cukurova, 01330 Adana, TürkiyeDepartment of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Cukurova, 01330 Adana, TürkiyeDepartment of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Cukurova, 01330 Adana, TürkiyeDepartment of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Cukurova, 01330 Adana, TürkiyeDepartment of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Cukurova, 01330 Adana, TürkiyeThis 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 (P<i><sub>N</sub></i>) were significantly influenced by rootstocks and/or deficit irrigation treatments. Deficit irrigation significantly reduced plant height, fresh and dry weights, rootstock diameter, Chl, <i>Fv’</i>/<i>Fm’</i> (chlorophyll fluorescence), and P<i><sub>N</sub></i>, while scion diameter, stomatal conductance, and water-use efficiency (WUE) remained unaffected. Among rootstocks, sour orange exhibited the highest Chl and <i>Fv’</i>/<i>Fm’</i> 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/11/4/365citruschlorophyll reductiondroughtgrowthphotosynthesis |
| spellingShingle | Meral Incesu Berken Cimen Bilge Yilmaz Turgut Yesiloglu Merve Ilhan Physiological Investigation of Drought Stress Tolerance of ‘W. Murcott’ Mandarin Grafted onto ‘Carrizo’, ‘Sour Orange’, and ‘Volkameriana’ Rootstocks Horticulturae citrus chlorophyll reduction drought growth photosynthesis |
| title | Physiological Investigation of Drought Stress Tolerance of ‘W. Murcott’ Mandarin Grafted onto ‘Carrizo’, ‘Sour Orange’, and ‘Volkameriana’ Rootstocks |
| title_full | Physiological Investigation of Drought Stress Tolerance of ‘W. Murcott’ Mandarin Grafted onto ‘Carrizo’, ‘Sour Orange’, and ‘Volkameriana’ Rootstocks |
| title_fullStr | Physiological Investigation of Drought Stress Tolerance of ‘W. Murcott’ Mandarin Grafted onto ‘Carrizo’, ‘Sour Orange’, and ‘Volkameriana’ Rootstocks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Physiological Investigation of Drought Stress Tolerance of ‘W. Murcott’ Mandarin Grafted onto ‘Carrizo’, ‘Sour Orange’, and ‘Volkameriana’ Rootstocks |
| title_short | Physiological Investigation of Drought Stress Tolerance of ‘W. Murcott’ Mandarin Grafted onto ‘Carrizo’, ‘Sour Orange’, and ‘Volkameriana’ Rootstocks |
| title_sort | physiological investigation of drought stress tolerance of w murcott mandarin grafted onto carrizo sour orange and volkameriana rootstocks |
| topic | citrus chlorophyll reduction drought growth photosynthesis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/11/4/365 |
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