Light spectrum influences crop resilience

Added on 25 January 2024

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Light spectrum influences crop resilience

Photo: WUR

A crop needs light to grow. This can be done for example by using LED lamps. This allows a grower to better manage the crop: the intensity and spectral composition of the light can be adjusted easily. The Greenhouse Horticulture and Flower Bulbs Business Unit of Wageningen University & Research investigates the effect of different light spectra on the plant shape, assimilate distribution and resilience of cucumbers. This includes looking at the effect on the gene expression of plants.

WUR has set up a research facility for high-wire cultivation in the LED Innovation and Demonstration Center (IDC LED) in Bleiswijk. Winter conditions can be simulated here in 4 compartments all year round. Here, WUR is working on new knowledge about the effects of light on cucumbers and other high wire crops, so that growers can develop the most energy-efficient cultivation possible for their own cultivation and conditions.

The research shows, among other things, that light spectra have a major influence on the crop's resistance to diseases and pests. Hormones play a crucial role in all these effects. However, these are difficult to measure. That is why WUR focuses its research on gene expression. Hormones regulate the expression of genes. Gene expression regulates the activity of a gene. One spectrum can activate or inactivate multiple genes in the crop – via the hormones. Sometimes these different genes have opposite effects. For example, one gene can stimulate cell elongation, while the other suppresses this process.