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Ezerina E.M., Chesnokov Yu.V. Evaluation of morphological, spectral and fluorescent characteristics of garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) samples grown under different conditions. Sel'skokhozyaistvennaya Biologiya [Agricultural Biology], 2025, Vol. 60, № 5, p. 852-865.
(how to cite this article)

doi: 10.15389/agrobiology.2025.5.852eng

UDC: 635.563:577.355.4:577.355.2

Acknowledgements:
We would like to express our gratitude to A.M. Artemyeva (VIR) who kindly provided the seeds of the garden cress samples from the VIR collection.

 

EVALUATION OF MORPHOLOGICAL, SPECTRAL AND FLUORESCENT CHARACTERISTICS OF GARDEN CRESS (Lepidium sativum L.) SAMPLES GROWN UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS

E.M. Ezerina✉, Yu.V. Chesnokov

Agrophysical Research Institute, 14, Grazhdanskii prosp., St. Petersburg, 195220 Russia, e-mail lehzerina@yandex.ru (✉ corresponding author), yuv_chesnokov@agrophys.ru

ORCID:
Ezerina E.M. orcid.org/0009-0008-8243-2435
Chesnokov Yu.V. orcid.org/0000-0002-1134-0292

Final revision received March 18, 2025
Accepted May 12, 2025

Garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) is a promising, precocious, responsive crop of interest to the conditions of light culture. Diagnosis of physiological status is an essential component when growing plants in the field, under controlled and strictly controlled conditions. Among the methods of noninvasive control of the physiological state of plants for regulated agroecosystems, the method of spectral analysis of leaf blades and the fluorescent method are the most effective and widely used. In this work, based on the experiments carried out, correlations of morphological parameters of garden cress samples with various optical indices were established for the first time in conditions of light culture, greenhouse and open ground. The purpose of the study was to study the influence of growing conditions on the morphological characteristics and optical parameters of leaf blades (chlorophyll fluorescence and reflection spectra) of garden cress samples from the VIR collection and to establish correlations of morphological parameters with various optical indexes, as well as to identify highly productive, promising samples of interest for growing in light culture. The objects of the study were 17 samples of garden cress of various origins obtained from the collection of the Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR). Vegetation experiments in strictly controlled conditions of light culture were carried out at the agrobiopolygon of the Agrophysical Research Institute (St. Petersburg) in 2024. The plants were grown by flow hydroponics at a photoperiod of 12, 14, and 16 hours. The plants were grown in pots for a salad line with a volume of 0.1 liters. Morphological description was carried out in the phase of technical ripeness on the 26th-29th day from sowing. Vegetation experiments in a polycarbonate greenhouse were conducted at the Pushkin branch of VIR (St. Petersburg) in the spring (sowing on April 26) and in the open ground (sowing on July 3) in 2024. The growing pattern was the same both in greenhouses and in the field, 5×;10 cm. Morphological description was performed on days 28-30. Optical parameters were measured on the leaves of the middle tier of representative plants of each sample. Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and leaf reflection spectra were recorded on days 23-28 of vegetation using a miniature fiber-optic spectrometric system (Ocean Optics, USA) and a MINI-PAM-II pulsed portable fluorimeter (Heinz Walz GmbH, Germany), respectively. The chlorophyll index ChlRI, the carotenoid-to-chlorophyll ratio index SIPI, the light scattering index R800, the photochemical index PRI, the anthocyanin reflection index ARI, the aging index PSRI, and the pheophytination index NPQI were evaluated. The PRI and ARI indicators were used with modification and designated as PRImod and ARImod. The feofetinization index was also used with the addition of a constant (C + NPQI; C = 5) for ease of interpretation and was further designated as NPQI + с. The following parameters obtained as a result of fluorescence analysis were also evaluated: the maximum quantum yield of the Fv/Fm photosystem; the effective quantum yield of the photosystem Y(II); the quantum yield Y(NO); Y(NPQ), characterizing the controlled loss of excitation energy due to heat dissipation. It is shown that the morphological features characterizing the productivity of green crops (plant weight, diameter and height of the rosette, number of leaves) significantly changed in different garden cress samples and under the influence of the growing medium. In the conditions of light culture, the photoperiods that are most favorable for the growth of the green mass of plants were 12 and 16 hours. In addition, with a longer photoperiod of 16 hours, a faster transition to the generative phase was noted than with shorter ones. As a result of comparison with plants grown in greenhouse and open ground conditions, it was found that in light culture conditions with favorable photoperiods, the samples did not significantly differ in terms of average plant weight, however, the beginning of the transition to flowering was noted in a significantly smaller number of samples. Most of the optical parameters changed significantly under the influence of the “growing conditions” factor, depending on the studied “genotype”. There was a significant decrease in the ChlRI index and the PRImod index when growing samples in the field and in the greenhouse. There was a significant increase in the R800 index in agrobiopoligon conditions, as well as a significant increase in the SIPI index in light culture conditions with a less favorable photoperiod. Constant close and average correlations were found between morphological features characterizing productivity (rosette diameter, height of 1 plant, number of leaves, weight of 1 plant) and optical indicators R800, PRImod, ARImod, Y(NPQ) (r = 0.51…-0.84, p = 0.05). Samples k-112 (Local, Azerbaijan) and k-165 (Gartenkresse, Belgium) have been identified for a number of agronomically valuable traits as the most promising for cultivation in the conditions of light culture and further breeding. A joint change in the plant mass trait and the PRImod index was noted in the selected genotypes. This allows us to conclude that optical indicators can be used not only as a tool for monitoring plant condition and crop forecasting, but also as a criterion for identifying promising and highly productive samples of interest for cultivation in light culture and further genetic, physiological and breeding work.

Keywords: garden cress, Lepidium sativum L., light culture, field, greenhouse, reflection spectra, chlorophyll fluorescence, non-invasive methods.

 

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