Pepper injury and partitioning response to ozone

Pepper plants (Capsicum annuum L.) grown in containers and exposed intermittently to 0.12 or 0.20 ppm ozone (O/sub 3/) while they grew to final yield, increased in plant height and total number of leaves in spite of the formation of chlorotic leaves. On an absolute basis, root, stem and leaf dry weights were not significantly affected by O/sub 3/, but fruit dry matter fell by as much as 54%. However, on a relative basis, dry matter partitioning to fruit was not constant and a significant alteration of the expected dry matter distribution was observed in the O/sub 3/ treatment. O/sub 3/ also significantly accentuated the inverse relationship between crown fruit and leaf production. A conceptual model for whole plant response to O/sub 3/ was developed.