Fruit removal increases root-zone respiration in cucumber

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Many attempts have been made to avoid the commonly observed fluctuations in fruit initiation and fruit growth in crop plants, particularly in cucumber (Cucumis sativus). Weak sinks of the fruit have been assumed to result in low sink/source ratios for carbohydrates, which may inhibit photosynthesis. This study focuses on the effects of low sink–source ratios on photosynthesis and respiration, and in particular root-zone respiration. METHODS: Mature fruit-bearing cucumber plants were grown in an aerated nutrient solution. The root containers were designed as open chambers to allow measurement of CO(2) gas exchange in the root zone. A similar arrangement in a gas-exchange cuvette enabled simultaneous measurements of CO(2) exchange in the shoot and root zones. KEY RESULTS: Reducing the sinks for carbohydrates by removing all fruit from the plants always resulted in a doubling of CO(2) exchange in the root zone within a few hours. However, respiration of the shoot remained unaffected and photosynthesis was only marginally reduced, if at all. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the increased level of CO(2) gas exchange in the root zone after removing the carbon sinks in the shoot is due primarily to the exudation of organic compounds by the roots and their decomposition by micro-organisms. This hypothesis must be tested in further experiments, but if proved correct it would make sense to include carbon leakage by root exudation in cucumber production models. In contrast, inhibition of photosynthesis was measurable only at zero fruit load, a situation that does not occur in cucumber production systems, and models that estimate production can therefore ignore (end-product) inhibition of photosynthesis.