Effect of Drought Stress on Sucrose Accumulation in Sugar Beet Studied

Recent studies have shown that drought stress affects the yield of sugar beet by affecting the leaf development and storage root growth. Institute of Sugar Beet Research scientist C. M. Hoffman identified the changes happening in the storage root of beet in terms of its growth, ions and solutes accumulation under drought with regard to sucrose accumulation. Two pot experiments were studied, one with sugar beet exposed to moderate drought stress, and the other setup with sugar beet and fodder beet exposed to severe drought stress. Results showed that there was a decrease in the root and leaf yield due to stress treatments. The sucrose concentration in the storage root of sugar beet also decreased after exposure to drought. The concentration of compatible solutes such as potassium, sodium, amino acids, and glucose decreased during growth but increased after drought treatment. This negative relationship between sucrose accumulation and concentration of compatible solutes could imply that the increased concentration of solutes limited the accumulation of sucrose.

The full article featured in the Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-037X.2009.00415.x/full.