Light spectrum influences crop resilience
Added on 25 January 2024
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.
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