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Light and Its Influence on the Growth and Quality of...
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Light and Its Influence on the Growth and Quality of Plants

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2024) | Viewed by 22105

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Barbara Frąszczak

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Vegetable Crops, Poznań University of Life Sciences, 60-594 Poznań, Poland
Interests: microgreens; herbal plants; controlled environmental agriculture; light in plant cultivation; nutritional value of vegetables
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Anita Schroeter-Zakrzewska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Ornamental Plants, Dendrology, Pomology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, 60-594 Poznań, Poland
Interests: ornamental plants, impact of light spectra on growth, influence of composts on growth ornamental plants

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Light is one of the most important abiotic environmental factors that strongly affects the growth and development of plants. By controlling the amount of light and its color, we can modify the growth and development of plants. In particular, light plays a role in the absorption and utilization of nutrients in plants. Plant productivity is not only influenced by light quantity but also by the qualitative characteristics of light that strongly influence plant growth, morphology, physiology, and phytochemical accumulation.

By learning and understanding more about the importance of light in plant cultivation, we can obtain plants of good quality and high nutritional content. However, each species and cultivar has different light requirements and sensitivity. In addition, other growing factors also affect the light–plant correlation. Therefore, a considerable amount of research is needed to be able to determine the best spectrum for a particular species/cultivar, taking into account the purpose of the crop, the growth stage of the plant, and the growing conditions.

The main goal of this Special Issue is to gather the most recent research results, delivering a wide range of results on light and its influence on plants.

Dr. Barbara Frąszczak
Dr. Anita Schroeter-Zakrzewska
Guest Editors

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sunlight
  • artificial light
  • LED light
  • light spectrum
  • supplementary light
  • plant growth
  • plant quality
  • photosynthesis photomorphogenesis

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

17 pages, 1677 KiB  
Article
Supplementary Far-Red Light for Photosynthetic Active Radiation Differentially Influences the Photochemical Efficiency and Biomass Accumulation in Greenhouse-Grown Lettuce
by Haijie Dou, Xin Li, Zhixin Li, Jinxiu Song, Yanjie Yang and Zhengnan Yan
Plants 2024, 13(15), 2169; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13152169 - 5 Aug 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1529
Abstract
Adding far-red (FR, 700–800 nm) light to photosynthetic active radiation (400–700 nm) proved to be a possible approach to increasing plant biomass accumulation for lettuce production in indoor vertical farms with artificial lighting as a sole-source lighting. However, how FR light addition influences [...] Read more.
Adding far-red (FR, 700–800 nm) light to photosynthetic active radiation (400–700 nm) proved to be a possible approach to increasing plant biomass accumulation for lettuce production in indoor vertical farms with artificial lighting as a sole-source lighting. However, how FR light addition influences plant growth, development, and metabolic processes and the optimal value of FR photon flux density for greenhouse-grown lettuce under sunlight are still unclear. This work aims to quantify the value of supplementary FR light with different intensities on lettuce morphological and physiological characteristics in a greenhouse. Lettuce ‘Dasusheng’ (Lactuca sativa L.) was grown in a greenhouse under seven light treatments, including white plus red LEDs with FR photon flux density at 0, 10, 30, 50, 70, and 90 µmol m−2 s−1 (WR, WR + FR10, WR + FR30, WR + FR50, WR + FR70, and WR + FR90, respectively), and lettuce grown with sunlight only was marked as natural light (NL). FR light addition improved the electron transport flux per cross section and performance index (PIabs, PItotal) and decreased the changes in relative variable fluorescence of lettuce leaves compared to plants under NL. Specifically, the PIabs of lettuce leaves were 41%, 41%, 38%, 33%, 26%, and 25% lower under control than in plants under treatments WR + FR90, WR + FR70, WR + FR50, WR + FR30, WR + FR10, and WR, respectively. Leaf number, leaf area, and biomass accumulation of lettuce followed a quadratic function with increasing FR light intensity and were the highest under treatment WR + FR50. The shoot fresh weight and dry weight of lettuce were increased by 111% and 275%, respectively, under treatment WR + FR50 compared to NL. The contents of vitamin C, reducing sugar, total soluble sugar, and starch in lettuce showed a similar trend with biomass accumulation. In conclusion, with commonly used photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD, 400–700 nm) around 200 μmol m−2 s−1, supplementary FR light intensity of 30~50 μmol m−2 s−1 was suggested to enhance the photochemistry efficiency, biomass accumulation, and carbohydrates’ contents in greenhouse-grown lettuce. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light and Its Influence on the Growth and Quality of Plants)
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18 pages, 8965 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Cassava Pollen Viability and Ovule Fertilizability under Red-Light, 6-Benzyl Adenine, and Silver Thiosulphate Treatments
by Julius K. Baguma, Settumba B. Mukasa, Mildred Ochwo-Ssemakula, Ephraim Nuwamanya, Paula Iragaba, Enoch Wembabazi, Michael Kanaabi, Peter T. Hyde, Tim L. Setter, Titus Alicai, Benard Yada, Williams Esuma, Yona Baguma and Robert S. Kawuki
Plants 2024, 13(14), 1988; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13141988 - 20 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1088
Abstract
Understanding pollen and ovule fertility as factors influencing fruit and seed set is important in cassava breeding. Extended daylength with red light (RL) and plant growth regulators (PGRs) have been used to induce flowering and fruit set in cassava without any reference to [...] Read more.
Understanding pollen and ovule fertility as factors influencing fruit and seed set is important in cassava breeding. Extended daylength with red light (RL) and plant growth regulators (PGRs) have been used to induce flowering and fruit set in cassava without any reference to effects on pollen viability or ovule fertilizability. This study investigated the effects of field-applied RL and PGR on pollen viability and ovule fertilizability. Panels of cassava genotypes with early or moderate flowering responses were used. RL was administered from dusk to dawn. Two PGRs, 6-benzyl adenine (BA), a cytokinin and silver thiosulphate (STS), an anti-ethylene, were applied. Pollen viability was assessed based on pollen grain diameter, in vitro stainability, in vivo germinability, ovule fertilizability, and ploidy level. Treating flowers with RL increased the pollen diameter from 145.6 in control to 148.5 µm in RL, 78.5 to 93.0% in stainability, and 52.0 to 56.9% in ovule fertilizability in treated female flowers. The fruit set also increased from 51.5 in control to 71.8% in RL-treated female flowers. The seed set followed a similar trend. The ploidy level of pollen from RL-treated flowers increased slightly and was positively correlated with pollen diameter (R2 = 0.09 *), ovule fertilization (R2 = 0.20 *), fruit set (R2 = 0.59 *), and seed set (R2 = 0.60 *). Treating flowers with PGR did not affect pollen diameter but increased stainability from 78.5% in control to 82.1%, ovule fertilizability from 42.9 to 64.9%, and fruit set from 23.2 to 51.9% in PGR-treated female flowers. Combined BA + STS application caused the highest ovule fertilizability, fruit, and seed set efficiency. These results show that RL and PGR treatments increase pollen viability and ovule fertilizability. This is important for planning pollination strategies in cassava breeding programmes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light and Its Influence on the Growth and Quality of Plants)
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19 pages, 6132 KiB  
Article
Effects of Red and Blue Light on the Growth, Photosynthesis, and Subsequent Growth under Fluctuating Light of Cucumber Seedlings
by Tengqi Wang, Qiying Sun, Yinjian Zheng, Yaliang Xu, Binbin Liu and Qingming Li
Plants 2024, 13(12), 1668; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13121668 - 16 Jun 2024
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4406
Abstract
The effects of red and blue light on growth and steady-state photosynthesis have been widely studied, but there are few studies focusing on dynamic photosynthesis and the effects of LED pre-treatment on cucumber seedlings’ growth, so in this study, cucumber (Cucumis sativus [...] Read more.
The effects of red and blue light on growth and steady-state photosynthesis have been widely studied, but there are few studies focusing on dynamic photosynthesis and the effects of LED pre-treatment on cucumber seedlings’ growth, so in this study, cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Jinyou 365) was chosen as the test material. White light (W), monochromatic red light (R), monochromatic blue light (B), and mixed red and blue lights with different red-to-blue ratios (9:1, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7, and 1:9) were set to explore the effects of red and blue light on cucumber seedlings’ growth, steady-state photosynthesis, dynamic photosynthesis, and subsequent growth under fluctuating light. The results showed that compared with R and B, mixed red and blue light was more suitable for cucumber seedlings’ growth, and the increased blue light ratios would decrease the biomass of cucumber seedlings under mixed red and blue light; cucumber seedlings under 90% red and 10% blue mixed light (9R1B) grew better than other treatments. For steady-state photosynthesis, blue light decreased the actual net photosynthetic rate but increased the maximum photosynthetic capacity by promoting stomatal development and opening; 9R1B exhibited higher actual net photosynthetic rate, but the maximum photosynthetic capacity was low. For dynamic photosynthesis, the induction rate of photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance were also accelerated by blue light. For subsequent growth under fluctuating light, higher maximum photosynthetic capacity and photoinduction rate could not promote the growth of cucumber seedlings under subsequent fluctuating light, while seedlings pre-treated with 9R1B and B grew better under subsequent fluctuating light due to the high plant height and leaf area. Overall, cucumber seedlings treated with 9R1B exhibited the highest biomass and it grew better under subsequent fluctuating light due to the higher actual net photosynthetic rate, plant height, and leaf area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light and Its Influence on the Growth and Quality of Plants)
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15 pages, 2315 KiB  
Article
Effect of Light Quality on Seed Potato (Solanum tuberose L.) Tuberization When Aeroponically Grown in a Controlled Greenhouse
by Md Hafizur Rahman, Md. Jahirul Islam, Umma Habiba Mumu, Byeong Ryeol Ryu, Jung-Dae Lim, Md Obyedul Kalam Azad, Eun Ju Cheong and Young-Seok Lim
Plants 2024, 13(5), 737; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13050737 - 6 Mar 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2429
Abstract
A plant factory equipped with artificial lights is a comparatively new concept when growing seed potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) for minituber production. The shortage of disease-free potato seed tubers is a key challenge to producing quality potatoes. Quality seed tuber production all [...] Read more.
A plant factory equipped with artificial lights is a comparatively new concept when growing seed potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) for minituber production. The shortage of disease-free potato seed tubers is a key challenge to producing quality potatoes. Quality seed tuber production all year round in a controlled environment under an artificial light condition was the main purpose of this study. The present study was conducted in a plant factory to investigate the effects of distinct spectrum compositions of LEDs on potato tuberization when grown in an aeroponic system. The study was equipped with eight LED light combinations: L1 = red: blue: green (70 + 25 + 5), L2 = red: blue: green (70 + 20 + 10), L3 = red: blue: green (70 + 15 + 15), L4 = red: blue: green (70 + 10 + 20), L5 = red: blue: far-red (70 + 25 + 5), L6 = red: blue: far-red (70 + 20 + 10), L7 = red: blue: far-red (70 + 15 + 15), L8 = red: blue: far-red (70 + 10 + 20), and L9 = natural light with 300 µmol m−2 s−1 of irradiance, 16/8 h day/night, 65% relative humidity, while natural light was used as the control treatment. According to the findings, treatment L4 recorded a higher tuber number (31/plant), tuber size (>3 g); (9.26 ± 3.01), and GA3 content, along with better plant growth characteristics. Moreover, treatment L4 recorded a significantly increased trend in the stem diameter (11.08 ± 0.25), leaf number (25.32 ± 1.2), leaf width (19 ± 0.81), root length (49 ± 2.1), and stolon length (49.62 ± 2.05) compared to the control (L9). However, the L9 treatment showed the best performance in plant fresh weight (67.16 ± 4.06 g) and plant dry weight (4.46 ± 0.08 g). In addition, photosynthetic pigments (Chl a) (0.096 ± 0.00 mg g−1, 0.093 ± 0.00 mg g−1) were found to be the highest in the L1 and L2 treatments, respectively. However, Chl b and TCL recorded the best results in treatment L4. Finally, with consideration of the plant growth and tuber yield performance, treatment L4 was found to have the best spectral composition to grow quality seed potato tubers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light and Its Influence on the Growth and Quality of Plants)
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16 pages, 2184 KiB  
Article
Morphological and Photosynthetic Parameters of Green and Red Kale Microgreens Cultivated under Different Light Spectra
by Barbara Frąszczak, Monika Kula-Maximenko, Anna Podsędek, Dorota Sosnowska, Kingsley Chinazor Unegbu and Tomasz Spiżewski
Plants 2023, 12(22), 3800; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12223800 - 8 Nov 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2326
Abstract
Microgreens are plants eaten at a very early stage of development, having a very high nutritional value. Among a large group of species, those from the Brassicaceae family, including kale, are very popularly grown as microgreens. Typically, microgreens are grown under controlled conditions [...] Read more.
Microgreens are plants eaten at a very early stage of development, having a very high nutritional value. Among a large group of species, those from the Brassicaceae family, including kale, are very popularly grown as microgreens. Typically, microgreens are grown under controlled conditions under light-emitting diodes (LEDs). However, the effect of light on the quality of grown microgreens varies. The present study aimed to determine the effect of artificial white light with varying proportions of red (R) and blue (B) light on the morphological and photosynthetic parameters of kale microgreens with green and red leaves. The R:B ratios were for white light (W) 0.63, for red-enhanced white light (W + R) 0.75, and for white and blue light (W + B) 0.38 at 230 µmol m−2 s−1 PPFD. The addition of both blue and red light had a positive effect on the content of active compounds in the plants, including flavonoids and carotenoids. Red light had a stronger effect on the seedling area and the dry mass and relative chlorophyll content of red-leaved kale microgreens. Blue light, in turn, had a stronger effect on green kale, including dry mass. The W + B light combination negatively affected the chlorophyll content of both cultivars although the leaves were significantly thicker compared to cultivation under W + R light. In general, the cultivar with red leaves had less sensitivity to the photosynthetic apparatus to the spectrum used. The changes in PSII were much smaller in red kale compared to green kale. Too much red light caused a deterioration in the PSII vitality index in green kale. Red and green kale require an individual spectrum with different proportions of blue and red light at different growth stages to achieve plants with a large leaf area and high nutritional value. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light and Its Influence on the Growth and Quality of Plants)
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13 pages, 2566 KiB  
Article
Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density Effects on Portulaca olearacea in Controlled-Environment Agriculture
by Gediminas Kudirka, Akvilė Viršilė, Kristina Laužikė, Rūta Sutulienė and Giedrė Samuolienė
Plants 2023, 12(20), 3622; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12203622 - 20 Oct 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1745
Abstract
This study aims to evaluate the impacts of the lighting photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) on the growth, photosynthesis, and antioxidant response of common purslane (Portulaca oleracea) cultivars to determine energy-efficient lighting strategies for CEA. Green and golden purslane cultivars were [...] Read more.
This study aims to evaluate the impacts of the lighting photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) on the growth, photosynthesis, and antioxidant response of common purslane (Portulaca oleracea) cultivars to determine energy-efficient lighting strategies for CEA. Green and golden purslane cultivars were cultivated in CEA chambers and four experimental treatments consisting of PPFDs of 150, 200, 250, and 300 ± 10 µmol m−2s−1 were performed, representing daily light integrals (DLIs) of 8.64–17.28 mol m−2d−1 throughout a 16 h photoperiod. The results show that photoresponses to light PPFDs are cultivar-specific. The green cultivar accumulates 174% more dry weight at 300 PPFD compared to the golden cultivar, and also has a higher LUE, but a lower ETR. Dry weight accumulation, plant height, and leaf area dependence on light intensity do not highlight the economic significance of light PPFD/DLI. The derivative parameter (Δ fresh weight (%)/ΔDLI %) more efficiently explains how the percentage increase in DLI due to an increased PPFD affects the percentage of biomass gain between these PPFD treatments. For both cultivars, the relative fresh weight gain is maximal when the lighting PPFD increases from 200 to 250 µmol m−2s−1 and declines with PPFD increases from 250 to 300. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light and Its Influence on the Growth and Quality of Plants)
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15 pages, 2522 KiB  
Article
Supplementary White, UV-A, and Far-Red Radiation Differentially Regulates Growth and Nutritional Qualities of Greenhouse Lettuce
by Zhengnan Yan, Chunling Wang, Zhixin Li, Xin Li, Fei Cheng, Duo Lin and Yanjie Yang
Plants 2023, 12(18), 3234; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12183234 - 12 Sep 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2178
Abstract
Light is a crucial environmental signal and a form of photosynthetic energy for plant growth, development, and nutrient formation. To explore the effects of light quality on the growth and nutritional qualities of greenhouse-grown lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), lettuce was cultivated under [...] Read more.
Light is a crucial environmental signal and a form of photosynthetic energy for plant growth, development, and nutrient formation. To explore the effects of light quality on the growth and nutritional qualities of greenhouse-grown lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), lettuce was cultivated under supplementary white (W) light-emitting diodes (LEDs); white plus ultraviolet A LEDs (W+UV); white plus far-red LEDs (W+FR); and the combination of white, far-red, and UV-A LEDs (W+FR+UV) for 25 days, with lettuce grown under natural sunlight used as the control. The results indicate that the leaf length and leaf width values for lettuce grown under the W+FR+UV treatment were significantly higher than those of lettuce grown under other supplementary light treatments. The highest values of shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, root fresh weight, and root dry weight were recorded under the W+FR treatment (4.0, 6.0, 8.0, and 12.4 times higher than those under the control treatment, respectively). Lettuce grown under the W+FR treatment exhibited the highest total chlorophyll content (39.1%, 24.6%, and 16.2% higher than that under the W, W+UV, and W+FR+UV treatments, respectively). The carotenoid content of lettuce grown under the W+FR treatment was the highest among all treatments. However, the root activity of greenhouse-grown lettuce was the highest under the W+FR+UV treatment. Soluble sugar content, cellulose content, and starch content in the lettuce responded differently to the light treatments and were highest under the W+UV treatment. In summary, supplementary light promoted growth and nutrient accumulation in lettuce. Specifically, white plus far-red light promoted lettuce growth, and white plus UV increased some specific compounds in greenhouse-grown lettuce. Our findings provide valuable references for the application of light-supplementation strategies to greenhouse lettuce production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light and Its Influence on the Growth and Quality of Plants)
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Review

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29 pages, 5806 KiB  
Review
Magic Blue Light: A Versatile Mediator of Plant Elongation
by Yun Kong and Youbin Zheng
Plants 2024, 13(1), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13010115 - 31 Dec 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4561
Abstract
Blue light plays an important role in regulating plant elongation. However, due to the limitations of older lighting technologies, the responses of plants to pure blue light have not been fully studied, and some of our understandings of the functions of blue light [...] Read more.
Blue light plays an important role in regulating plant elongation. However, due to the limitations of older lighting technologies, the responses of plants to pure blue light have not been fully studied, and some of our understandings of the functions of blue light in the literature need to be revisited. This review consolidates and analyzes the diverse findings from previous studies on blue-light-mediated plant elongation. By synthesizing the contrasting results, we uncover the underlying mechanisms and explanations proposed in recent research. Moreover, we delve into the exploration of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a tool for manipulating plant elongation in controlled-environment plant production, highlighting the latest advancements in this area. Finally, we acknowledge the challenges faced and outline future directions for research in this promising field. This review provides valuable insights into the pivotal role of blue light in plant growth and offers a foundation for further investigations to optimize plant elongation using blue light technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Light and Its Influence on the Growth and Quality of Plants)
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