Contrasting strategies to cope with drought conditions by two tropical forage C4 grasses.

ABSTRACT: Drought severely limits forage productivity of C4 grasses across the tropics. The avoidance of water deficit by increasing the capacity for water uptake or by controlling water loss are common responses in forage C4 grasses. Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II are tropical C4 grasses used for livestock production due to their reputed resistance to drought conditions. However, there is scant information on the mechanisms used by these grasses to overcome water-limited conditions. Therefore, assessments of cumulative transpired water, shoot growth, leaf rolling, leaf gas exchange, dry mass production and a number of morpho-physiological traits were recorded over a period of 21 days under well-watered or drought conditions. Drought reduced shoot dry mass of

SUBMITTER: Cardoso JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4595746 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature