Chekol, H.; Bezuayehu, Y.; Warkineh, B.; Shimber, T.; Mierek-Adamska, A.; Dąbrowska, G.B.; Degu, A. Unraveling Drought Tolerance and Sensitivity in Coffee Genotypes: Insights from Seed Traits, Germination, and Growth-Physiological Responses. Agriculture2023, 13, 1754.
Chekol, H.; Bezuayehu, Y.; Warkineh, B.; Shimber, T.; Mierek-Adamska, A.; Dąbrowska, G.B.; Degu, A. Unraveling Drought Tolerance and Sensitivity in Coffee Genotypes: Insights from Seed Traits, Germination, and Growth-Physiological Responses. Agriculture 2023, 13, 1754.
Chekol, H.; Bezuayehu, Y.; Warkineh, B.; Shimber, T.; Mierek-Adamska, A.; Dąbrowska, G.B.; Degu, A. Unraveling Drought Tolerance and Sensitivity in Coffee Genotypes: Insights from Seed Traits, Germination, and Growth-Physiological Responses. Agriculture2023, 13, 1754.
Chekol, H.; Bezuayehu, Y.; Warkineh, B.; Shimber, T.; Mierek-Adamska, A.; Dąbrowska, G.B.; Degu, A. Unraveling Drought Tolerance and Sensitivity in Coffee Genotypes: Insights from Seed Traits, Germination, and Growth-Physiological Responses. Agriculture 2023, 13, 1754.
Abstract
The coffee plant is highly susceptible to drought, and different genotypes exhibit varying degrees of tolerance to low soil moisture. The current study aims to investigate the connection between drought tolerance and sensitivity in terms of seed traits, germination, and post-germination events, and their influence on the growth and physiology of young coffee plants. Two consecutive experiments were conducted to examine the impact of these factors. In the first experiment, germination performance was examined for three groups of coffee genotypes: relatively tolerant (Ca74140, Ca74112, and Ca74110), moderately sensitive (Ca74158, Ca74165, and CaJ-21), and sensitive (Ca754, CaJ-19, and CaGeisha). The subsequent experiment focused on the growth and physiological responses of two relatively tolerant (Ca74110 and Ca74112) and two sensitive (CaJ-19 and Ca754) genotypes under drought stress condition. The relatively tolerant genotypes showed quicker and more complete germination compared to other groups. This was associated with higher moisture content, higher seed surface area to volume ratio, and higher coefficient of velocity of germination, coefficient of variation of germination time, and germination index. Additionally, the relatively tolerant genotypes showed higher seedling vigor. The results of the second experiment demonstrated superior growth performance in relative tolerant genotypes compared to the sensitive groups. Young plants of coffee belonging to relatively tolerant genotypes exhibited higher growth performance than the sensitive genotypes, with a net assimilation rate strongly correlated to relative water content, leaf number, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll-a. In addition, a strong correlation was exhibited between the growth of young coffee plants and the surface area to volume ratio of the seeds, as well as the germination percentage. The seedling vigor index showed a strong correlation with net assimilation rate, chlorophyll content, seedling growth, and cell membrane stability. Furthermore, principal component analysis illustrated distinct clustering of genotypes based on their germination and growth-physiological performance. Overall, the findings of this study suggest the importance of seed traits, germination, and post-germination events are integral factors in determining drought tolerance and sensitivity, as well as the growth and physiological responses of adult coffee plants.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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