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Scientists investigating ways to develop more stress-tolerant vegetable plants

By Super Admin
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Google Oneindia News

Washington, December 28 (ANI): A team of scientists is investigating ways to help vegetable plants make a less stressful transition from the greenhouse to the field.

The scientists are led by Dr. Daniel Leskovar, a Texas AgriLife Research plant physiologist at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Uvalde, US.

"This research can aid in the successful production and possibly even the further profitability of some vegetable crops by producing high-quality, more adaptive plants that will establish well," Leskovar said.

"It could also enable some vegetable plants to produce beyond their regular season or succeed within a stressful growing environment," he added.

According to Leskovar, his research has been "centered in the identification and understanding of plant adaptation mechanisms to temperature, water and biological stresses as part of an integrated vegetable cropping system."

He and his collaborators already have been successful in creating heartier pepper, tomato, watermelon and cantaloupe seedlings for transplantation.

"Our work has primarily involved modulating naturally occurring growth regulators in vegetable plants. One of these is abscisic acid, or ABA, which is a hormone naturally produced by the plant," Leskovar said.

"Abscisic acid affects the closing of plant stomates and controls plant physiology such as leaf transpiration," he said.

"The hormone also slows plant growth temporarily, which is important for producing compact transplants in commercial nurseries," he added.

"Results of our previous research suggested abscisic acid was an effective tool to modulate transplant shoot growth and enhance drought-stress tolerance of several vegetable species," he said.

"Now our research is being targeted toward foliar spray application to control growth of mature vegetable transplants in the greenhouse," he added.

Leskovar noted vegetable plants often suffer transplant shock because of an imbalance between water loss through transpiration and water absorption through the roots, typically causing plant wilting.

He added that windy conditions or high temperatures can accelerate water loss.

"Abscisic acid closes the stomates and reduces water loss through transpiration, preventing further moisture loss in times of low water availability," Leskovar said.

"Research efforts to date have shown that external application of abscisic acid to cabbage, watermelon and pepper transplants had reduced undesirable excess shoot growth during plant development in the greenhouse environment," he said.

Leskovar said the research will be useful as part of an integrated cropping system strategy for developing more stress-tolerant vegetable plants which can be grown not only in Texas, but also other southern states with similar environmental and climatic challenges. (ANI)

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