Shaking off the blow: plant adjustments during submergence and post-stress growth in forage species.

Flooding significantly hampers global forage production. In flood-prone regions, Lotus tenuis and Lotus corniculatus are common forage legumes, yet little is known about their responses to partial or complete submergence. To address this, we evaluated 10 Lotus accessions subjected to 11days of either partial or complete submergence, analysing growth traits related to tolerance and recovery after de-submergence.

Eco-Physiological Traits Related to Recovery from Complete Submergence in the Model Legume .

Submergence is a severe form of stress for most plants. is a model legume with potential use in assisting breeding programs of closely related forage species. Twelve genotypes (10 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) and 2 parental accessions) with different constitutive shoot to root dry mass ratios (S:R) were subjected to 7 days of submergence in clear water and allowed to recover for two weeks post-submergence; a set of non-submerged plants served as controls.