Effect of drought and rewatering on photosynthetic physioecological characteristics of soybean

Field experiments were conducted on soybean Glycine max, yudou29, a major cultivated variety in the Henan Province of China to study the relationship between photosynthetic characteristics and other physioecological parameters of its leaves under soil drying and rewatering treatments. The study showed that the dawn water potential of soybean leaves under the drying treatment was very close to that of soybean leaves under well-watered treatments (CK) when soil water content was higher than 47% of field water capacity (FWC). But when soil water content dropped below 47% of FWC, the leaf water potential decreased rapidly, indicating a significant threshold reaction. The dawn water potential threshold of soybean leaves was about −1.02 MPa. Below this, the leaf water potential and net photosynthesis ratio dropped rapidly. When the soil water content was 47%, the leaf water potential and net photosynthesis ratio were nearly as high as those in CK, but the transpiration ratio was 67% lower, indicating that transpiration was more sensitive to drought than photosynthesis. After rewatering, the water status of soybean leaves improved, the net photosynthesis ratio and transpiration ratio increased linearly, and leaf stomata conductance (Gs) also recovered quickly. These results showed that after stress removal, soybean had fast-growing characteristics.