Variation of Photosynthetic Induction in Major Horticultural Crops Is Mostly Driven by Differences in Stomatal Traits

Under natural conditions, irradiance frequently fluctuates, causing net photosynthesis rate (A) to respond slowly and reducing the yields. We quantified the genotypic variation of photosynthetic induction in 19 genotypes among the following six horticultural crops: basil, chrysanthemum, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, and rose. Kinetics of photosynthetic induction and the stomatal opening were measured by exposing shade-adapted leaves (50 μmol m^–2 s^–1) to a high irradiance (1000 μmol m^–2 s^–1) until A reached a steady state. Rubisco activation rate was estimated by the kinetics of carboxylation capacity, which was quantified using dynamic A vs. [CO₂] curves. Generally, variations in photosynthetic induction kinetics were larger between crops and smaller between cultivars of the same crop. Time until reaching 20–90% of full A induction varied by 40–60% across genotypes, and this was driven by a variation in the stomatal opening rather than Rubisco activation kinetics. Stomatal conductance kinetics were partly determined by differences in the stomatal size and density; species with densely packed, smaller stomata (e.g., cucumber) tended to open their stomata faster, adapting stomatal conductance more rapidly and efficiently than species with larger but fewer stomata (e.g., chrysanthemum). We conclude that manipulating stomatal traits may speed up photosynthetic induction and growth of horticultural crops under natural irradiance fluctuations.