2025/09/17 by Mohan K. Bista, P. Ramamoorthy, Ranadheer Reddy Vennam +3 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Plant responses to elevated CO2 #Research in Cotton Cultivation #Seed Germination and Physiology
paper · doi:10.1016/j.jia.2025.04.012
openalex publication_date 2025/09/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
• Cotton cultivars are sensitive to abiotic stress during the vegetative stage. • Stresses and CO 2 levels significantly influence the expression of physiology and phenotypic traits. • Elevated CO 2 partially mitigated stress-induced damage to biomass under heat, salt, and drought. Elevated CO 2 (eCO 2 ) may mitigate stress-induced damage to cotton ( Gossypium spp.) growth and development. However, understanding the early-stage responses of cotton to multiple abiotic stressors at eCO 2 levels has been limited. This study quantified the impacts of chilling (CS, 22/14°C, day/night temperature), heat (HS, 38/30°C), drought (DS, 50% irrigation of the control), and salt (SS, 8 dS m -1 ) stresses on pigments, physiology, growth, and development of fourteen upland cotton cultivars under ambient CO 2 (aCO 2 , 420 ppm; current) and eCO 2 (700 ppm; future) levels during the vegetative stage. The eCO 2 partially negated the effects of all stresses by improving one or more of the pigments, physiological, growth, and development traits, except CS. For instance, HS at aCO 2 significantly increased stomatal conductance by 36% compared with non-stressed plants at aCO 2 . However, HS at eCO 2 significantly decreased stomatal conductance by 18% compared with HS at aCO 2 . The first squaring was delayed by one day under SS at aCO 2 but two days earlier under SS at eCO 2 than non-stressed plants at aCO 2 . Root and shoot dry mass and the total leaf area were significantly higher under all stresses, except for CS, at the eCO 2 compared with similar stresses at the aCO 2 . Most growth and development traits, including plant height, leaf area, and shoot dry mass, displayed a mirroring response pattern between aCO 2 and eCO 2 under all environments except CS. Cultivars exhibited significant interaction with stressed environments. Further, results revealed differential sensitivity and adaptation potential of cultivars to stress environments at varying CO 2 levels. This study highlights the need to consider eCO 2 in designing breeding programs to develop stress-tolerant varieties for future cotton-growing environments.