Effects of water stress on the organic Acid and carbohydrate compositions of cotton plants.

Two photoperiodic cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) strains (T185 and T466) which had been empirically selected because of poor performance and two strains (T25 and T256) selected because of enhanced performance under field water stress were evaluated for stress-induced changes in their organic acids and carbohydrates. Profiles and quantitation of organic acids and carbohydrates from aqueous extractions of cotton leaf tissue were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. In all cases, the water-stressed plants showed two to five times greater amounts of organic acids and carbohydrates over the values determined for the irrigated samples. Under stress, sucrose accumulation was observed in wilting strains (poor performers) probably related to rate of translocation out of the leaf. The most dramatic response to water stress was the accumulation of citric acid in strains T25 and T256 as compared to T185 and T466. Citric/malic acid ratios for both the irrigated and water-stressed samples of T25 and T256 were twice those of T185 and T466.