Water Relations Of Cassava - Water-Content, Water, Osmotic And Turgor Potential Relationships

The water content, water potential, osmotic potential, and turgor pressure relationships of two cultivars of indoor-grown cassava (Manihot esculenta) were examined. The two cultivars (CMC9 and MCOL113) represent low and high starch yielding varieties, respectively.Leaf water potentials were measured insitu with a dew-point hygrometer. A pressure chamber was used to estimate ψL in excised leaves. Relative water content (RWC) of intact leaves was measured with a beta-gauge but was calculated from the pressure chamber data for excised leaves. Osmotic potentials at water contents between 0 and 100% were calculated and the corresponding turgor pressures were obtained by difference.At low soil moisture tension, RWC and ψL dropped to minimum values during the day but recovered considerably at night. Osmotic potentials of turgid leaves were −970 kPa in cv. CMC9 and −1000 kPa in cv. MCOL113. Diurnal variations ψπ were small in both cultivars. However, daily fluctuations in ψP were larger and paralleled changes in ψL. A marked hysteresis was evident in the water content-potential and the water content-turgor pressure data obtained during the drying cycle. However, when water potentials and turgor pressures were changed rapidly by switching the lights off and on at short-time intervals, no hysteresis was observed in the data.