Open Access

ARTICLE

Effects of Allelochemicals on Root Growth and Pod Yield in Response to Continuous Cropping Obstacle of Peanut

Zhaohui Tang^1,2,3, Feng Guo^1,2,3, Li Cui^1,2,3, Qingkai Li⁴, Jialei Zhang^1,2,3, Jianguo Wang^1,2,3, Sha Yang^1,2,3, Jingjing Meng^1,2,3, Xinguo Li^1,2,3, Ping Liu^2,3,5,*, Shubo Wan^1,2,3,*

1 Institute of Crop Germplasm Resources, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, 250100, China
2 Shandong Key Lab of Genetic Improvement, Ecology and Physiology of Crops, Jinan, 250100, China
3 Scientific Observation and Experiment Station of Crop Cultivation in East China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Dongying, 257100, China
4 Shandong Agricultural Engineering University, Jinan, 255300, China
5 Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, 250100, China

* Corresponding Authors: Ping Liu. Email: ; Shubo Wan. Email:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2023, 92(1), 17-34. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2022.022405

Received 08 March 2022; Accepted 15 April 2022; Issue published 06 September 2022

Abstract

Continuous cropping (CC) obstacle is a major threat in legume crops production; however, the underlying mechanisms concerning the roles allelochemicals play in CC obstacle are poorly understood. The current 2-year study was conducted to investigate the effects of different kinds and concentrations of allelochemicals, p-hydroxybenzoic acid (H), cinnamic acid (C), phthalic acid (P), and their mixtures (M) on peanut root growth and productivity in response to CC obstacle. Treatment with H, C, P, and M significantly decreased the plant height, dry weight of the leaves and stems, number of branches, and length of the lateral stem compared with control. Exogenous application of H, C, P, and M inhibited the peanut root growth as indicated by the decreased root morphological characters. The allelochemicals also induced the cell membrane oxidation even though the antioxidant enzymes activities were significantly increased in peanut roots. Meanwhile, treatment with H, C, P, and M reduced the contents of total soluble sugar and total soluble protein. Analysis of ATPase activity, nitrate reductase activity, and root system activity revealed that the inhibition effects of allelochemicals on peanut roots might be due to the decrease in activities of ATPase and NR, and the inhibition of root system. Consequently, allelochemicals significantly decreased the pod yield of peanut compared with control. Our results demonstrate that allelochemicals play a dominant role in CC obstacle-induced peanut growth inhibition and yield reduction through damaging the root antioxidant system, unbalancing the osmolytes accumulation, and decreasing the activities of root-related enzymes.

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Keywords

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