High-temperature-tolerant mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) lines produce better yields when exposed to higher C02 levels

摘要

Increasing global air temperatures, along with rising C02 levels, are causing concerns about reducing available freshwater resources and altering cropping patterns. They may influence overall growth and production pattern of crop plants. These likelychanges would become major limiting factors for future sustainable food production largely in the tropics and subtro-pics. Thus, understanding physiological responses hold the key to determining the functional relationship between the environment and crop performance. We explore here the impact of rising C02 on the growth and yield traits of a few selected high-temperature (HT)-tolerant mungbean lines, which we earlier screened for HT tolerance using a physiological assay under managed growth conditions. The HT-tolerant lines grown under elevated C02 levels (550 and 700 uL L~1) showed a considerable improvement in growth rates (13.5%, 67.8%, and 46.5% in plant height, leaf area, and total dry matter, respectively) and pod and seed yield (48.7% and 31.7%, respectively), compared to local checks under the same environments. Interestingly, the symptoms of accelerated pod maturity were also observed in most of these lines. The outcome of the study would undoubtedly open up opportunities for increased yield potentials of legumes under the conditions of the warming climate and elevated levels of carbon dioxide.