Abstract:
Objective Changes on photosynthesis of leaves of muskmelon vines grown by hanging in a greenhouse enriched with CO2 were studied to understand the effect on the plants in a life cycle and application for optimum trellis cultivation.
Method Four CO2 enrichment treatments were implemented in the experimentation. They included CK at 400±12 mol·mol−1, T1 at 800±24 mol·mol−1, T2 at 1 200±36 mol·mol−1, and T3 at 1 600±48 mol·mol−1. Changes on the chlorophyll content, photosynthetic indicators, and chlorophyll fluorescence indices of the leaves on the hanging melon vines during the entire growth period were determined in 5, 15, 25, 35, and 45d after the treatments.
Result Compared with CK, T2 and T3 increased the net photosynthetic rate by 51.3% and 45.7% and WUE by 58.0% and 114.0%, respectively; while reduced the regulatory energy dissipation quantum yield Y (NPQ) by 7.1% and 11.0%, and the non-photochemical quenching coefficient qN by 5.8% and 6.2%, respectively. For T3, the increase on photochemical quenching coefficient qP was 3.9%. As the leaves aged (i.e., 45-d-old at end of treatment), the net photosynthetic rate under CK was only 19.2% at peak, whereas, that under treatments remained at a higher level. T3 had its net photosynthetic rate increased by 469.2%, chlorophyll A content significantly increased by 20.6%, Y(II) increased by 16.3%, qP increased by 25.1%, and Y(NO) decreased by 13.3% over CK. T1 and T3 showed their stomatal conductance reduced by 35.1% and 31.9%, transpiration rate by 52.8% and 37.7%, and Y(NPQ) by 9.1% and 6.6%, respectively. And, on qN, T1, T2, and T3 decreased by 8.3%, 14.6%, and 1.1%, respectively.
Conclusion The photosynthetic capacity of 25-d-old muskmelon leaves reached the maximum with the optimal CO2 enrichment at 1 200 mol·mol−1 under T2. The enrichment in the atmosphere also increased WUE and the photochemical quenching with a reduction on the non-photochemical quenching of the plants. The combined effect would improve the efficiency of leaf photosynthesis during plant senescence when the biochemical process depends on the increased chlorophyll content and qP to function well.