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Quantity of supplementary LED lightings regulates photosynthetic apparatus, improves photosynthetic capacity and enhances productivity of Cos lettuce grown in a tropical greenhouse

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Abstract

Although cooling their rootzone allows year-round (temperate) vegetable production in Singapore's warm climate, these crops have frequently experienced increasingly unpredictable cloudy and hazy weather. Supplementary lighting with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) could be used to reduce the impacts of low light intensity. This study investigated the responses of temperate Cos lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) to different quantities (photosynthetic photon flux density, PPFD of 0, 150, 300 µmol m−2 s−1) of supplementary LED lightings in the tropical greenhouse. Increasing light intensity significantly increased total leaf area, shoot and root fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW), total chlorophyll (Chl) and carotenoids (Car) contents, light-saturated photosynthetic CO2 assimilation rate (Asat) and transpiration rate (Tr). There were no significant differences in Fv/Fm ratio, total reduced nitrogen, specific leaf area (SLA) and PSII concentration among the three light treatments. However, there was an increasing trend with increasing light intensity for Chl a/b ratio, net photosynthetic O2 evolution rate (PN), cytochrome b6f (Cyt b6f), leaf total soluble protein and Rubisco concentrations. This study provides the basic understanding of photosynthetic apparatus and capacity of temperate crops grown under different supplementary LED lightings in the tropical greenhouse.

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Abbreviations

A sat :

Light-saturated photosynthetic CO2 assimilation rate

Car:

Carotenoids

Chl:

Chlorophyll

C i :

Internal CO2 concentration

Cyt b6f:

Cytochrome b6f complex

DW:

Dry weight

ETR:

Electron transport rate

FW:

Fresh weight

LED:

Light-emitting diode

P max :

Photosynthetic capacity

P N :

Net photosynthetic O2 evolution rate

PPFD:

Photosynthetic photon flux density

PS I:

Photosystem I

PS II:

Photosystem II

RuBP:

Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate

Rubisco:

Ribulose 1.5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

SL + 0 PPFD:

Only natural sunlight

SL + 150 PPFD:

Natural sunlight and supplementary LED light with PPFD of 150 µmol m−2 s−1

SL + 300 PPFD:

Natural sunlight and supplementary LED light with PPFD of 300 µmol m−2 s−1

SLA:

Specific leaf area

T r :

Transpiration rate

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Acknowledgements

We thank the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, for the financial support (Teaching materials’ vote of National Institute of Education). We are also indebted to Professor Fred Wah Soon Chow, Australian National University, for the opportunities he widely made available in the studies of photosynthetic light-use efficiency such as single-turnover flash O2.

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  1. Natural Sciences & Science Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore, 637616, Singapore

    Jie He, Nur Khairunnisa Bte Jawahir & Lin Qin

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  1. Jie He
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Correspondence to Jie He.

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He, J., Jawahir, N.K.B. & Qin, L. Quantity of supplementary LED lightings regulates photosynthetic apparatus, improves photosynthetic capacity and enhances productivity of Cos lettuce grown in a tropical greenhouse. Photosynth Res 149, 187–199 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-020-00816-w

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