Chengbin  Jiang

Tongxiang Lukang Chrysanthemum Industry Co., Ltd., Tongxiang, 314501, Zheiiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Bioscience Methods, 2026, Vol. 17, No. 5   
Received: 30 Jul., 2026    Accepted: 05 Sep., 2026    Published: 17 Sep., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Chrysanthemum morifolium is an important medicinal and ornamental crop with high economic value; however, its growth and productivity are increasingly threatened by drought stress caused by climate change and limited water availability. Drought stress directly affects plant water balance, photosynthetic performance, carbon assimilation, and water use efficiency, thereby limiting biomass accumulation and flower yield formation. This review systematically summarizes the effects of drought stress on photosynthesis and water use characteristics of C. morifolium, with emphasis on physiological, biochemical, and molecular regulation mechanisms. Under drought conditions, reduced soil moisture availability induces declines in leaf relative water content, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and net photosynthetic rate, resulting from both stomatal limitation and non-stomatal inhibition. Meanwhile, drought stress alters chlorophyll metabolism, damages photosystem II activity, and affects electron transport efficiency, leading to reduced light energy conversion capacity and carbon fixation efficiency. To cope with water deficiency, C. morifolium plants employ multiple adaptive strategies, including stomatal regulation, osmotic adjustment through accumulation of proline and soluble sugars, enhancement of antioxidant defense systems, and modulation of drought-responsive gene expression. Changes in water use efficiency reflect the trade-off between carbon gain and water conservation, providing important indicators for evaluating drought adaptation. A case study approach is presented to analyze the dynamic responses of photosynthetic parameters and water use traits under different drought intensities, identifying key physiological indicators associated with drought tolerance. Furthermore, this review discusses practical strategies for improving drought resilience, including optimized irrigation management, application of soil amendments and biostimulants, and development of drought-tolerant cultivars through molecular breeding. Future integration of multi-omics technologies, high-throughput phenotyping, and intelligent irrigation systems will provide new approaches for enhancing water-saving production and sustainable cultivation of Chrysanthemum morifolium under increasingly variable climatic conditions.

Chrysanthemum morifolium; Drought stress; Photosynthetic characteristics; Water use efficiency; Drought adaptation mechanisms