Cucumber leaf necrosis caused by radiation with abrupt increase of far-red component

Plants exhibit morphological plasticity in response to changes in the proportion of far-red radiation (FR). However, little is known about the response to a sudden increase of FR component. Cucumber seedlings were acclimatized to radiation without FR (FR-) for 1 - 5 d after germination, and then transferred to radiation containing FR (FR+) at levels similar to those in natural sunlight. Other seedlings were acclimatized to FR- or FR+, which was maintained continuously. The sudden increase in FR damaged the cotyledons and the first true leaf, especially when radiation was changed from FR- to FR+ at days 3 or 4 after germination. Necrosis of the damaged leaves may have resulted from inhibition of water flow in leaf xylem, because wilting and decreased stomatal conductance were observed simultaneously with leaf necrosis. Plants in the treatment groups that showed the most frequent damage showed two peaks in cotyledon elongation. This suggests that the leaves that had been acclimatized to FR- were easily damaged by the sudden promotion of leaf expansion caused by FR+.