Search

Many crop species, including cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), modify their above‐ and below‐ground growth to cope with water deficit stress. This acclimation to water deficit often triggers a biomass partitioning shift—allocating more biomass to the roots, to increase the accessibility of roots to water resources. However, additional carbon partitioning to roots may not always translate into increased water use and maintenance of aboveground biomass (ABM) and yield. Therefore, selecting an efficient root system architecture (RSA) should aim to sustain a high ABM production under a water deficit scenario. To better understand the associations of above and belowground biomass partitioning under moderate water deficit, this study evaluated the genotypic stability of 40 peanut genotypes in ABM and RSA in greenhouse experiments and further assessed genotypic differences in 4 site‐year field experiments. Our results suggested that higher ABM‐producing genotypes generally had high plasticity when subjected to water deficit whereas the low ABM‐producing genotypes had relatively high stability. Hierarchical clustering analysis further revealed that genotypes with a high root‐to‐shoot ratio potentially had increased genotypic stability in ABM underwater deficit. Interestingly, genotypes that maintained the highest ABM underwater deficit did not have the highest total root biomass and length. Instead, these genotypes had the highest root length in the top layer of soil (0–0.3 m) and relatively fewer roots in the deeper layer of soil (0.3–1 m). Greenhouse‐screened stable genotypes exhibited minimal yield reduction when subjected to mid‐season water deficit in some of the field validation experiments, but it also happened to some plastic genotypes, indicating that further validation of controlled environment screenings for genotypic water‐deficit tolerance in the field is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhizoma peanut (RP, Arachis glabrata Benth.) is an important perennial forage legume, but its adoption can be limited by relatively slow establishment. Genotype and temperature after planting of rhizomes likely affect partitioning of stored and new photoassimilates, but their impact on establishment rate is not known. To assess these relationships, planting date and RP entry effects were measured on biomass partitioning and growth responses. Treatments were all combinations of two planting dates (spring and summer) and four entries ('Florigraze', 'UF Peace', 'UF Tito', and the germplasm Ecoturf) replicated four times, with new plots planted in each of 2 yr. Spring‐planted Florigraze outperformed UF Peace in shoot count, shoot biomass, and root‐rhizome biomass through much of the year of planting. When planted in summer, UF Tito and UF Peace generally had earlier and greater shoot emergence, lesser root‐rhizome/shoot ratio, taller canopy height, and lesser leaf/stem ratio than Ecoturf or Florigraze. Across years, shoot biomass in the year after planting was greater for UF Peace and UF Tito than for Ecoturf and Florigraze when planted in summer (490, 387, 265, and 157 g m−2, respectively) and greater for UF Peace than Ecoturf or Florigraze planted in spring (349, 243, and 201 g m−2, respectively). UF Tito and UF Peace had greater shoot biomass in the year after planting for summer than for spring plantings, but there was no season effect for Ecoturf and Florigraze. Summer planting favored rapid establishment of upright cultivars UF Tito and UF Peace, but Ecoturf and Florigraze were less affected by season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]