ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Abiotic Stress
Effects of Drought Stress on Physiological-Biochemical Characteristics and Anatomical Structure of Camellia reticulata and C. sasanqua Seedlings: A Comprehensive Evaluation
Provisionally accepted
Fujun YAN1
Yuan-Yuan Huang1Zhi-Yu Zhang1Hong-Xing Xiao1Xue-Qin Wu1Yun-Long Wu2Zhong-Lang Wang3
Fang Geng1*- 1Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China
- 2Yiliang County Zhengyang Camellia Garden Landscaping Co., Ltd, Yiliang 652100, Yunnan, China, KUNMING, China
- 3Chinese Academy of Sciences Kunming Institute of Botany, Kunming, China
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This study investigated the effects of drought stress on leaf anatomical structures and physiological-biochemical indicators in three-year-old seedlings of Camellia reticulata and C. sasanqua. The research aimed to screen key indicators for drought resistance evaluation and conduct a comprehensive assessment of their drought tolerance. Seedlings of both camellias were cultivated in 3-gallon nursery pots filled with a 1:1 mixture of red soil and humus soil. The experiment was conducted in a plastic greenhouse maintained at 18 - 28 °C. Drought stress was imposed using the pot water-controlled method, with stress durations of 0, 4, 8, 12, and 16 days. As drought stress intensified, significant phenotypic differences emerged between the two camellias, accompanied by notable changes in leaf tissue structure and physiological-biochemical parameters. Drought differentially affected the stomata of both camellias. Under moderate and severe stress conditions, leaf thickness decreased significantly, with partial stomata closure observed under severe drought. The content of osmoregulatory substances — including soluble sugars, soluble proteins, and proline — increased markedly in both camellias. Concurrently, the activity of antioxidant enzymes exhibited an upward trend, indicating the activation of active defense and adaptation mechanisms under adverse conditions. Finally, comprehensive evaluation of drought tolerance using the subordinate function method and principal component analysis (PCA) yielded scores of D = 0.338 for C. reticulata and D = 0.551 for C. sasanqua. These results demonstrate that C. sasanqua exhibits significantly stronger drought resistance than C. reticulata.
Keywords: Camellia reticulata1, Camellia sasanqua2, seedlings3, drought stress4, comprehensive evaluation5
Received: 18 Oct 2025; Accepted: 20 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 YAN, Huang, Zhang, Xiao, Wu, Wu, Wang and Geng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Fang Geng, fanggeng20@swfu.edu.cn
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