Is Discrimination of 13C in Potato Leaflets and Tubers an Appropriate Trait to Describe Genotype Responses to Restrictive and Well‐Watered Conditions?

Selection for drought tolerance entails prioritizing plant traits that integrate critical physiological processes occurring during crop growth. Discrimination against ¹³C (?) in leaflets (?_leaflet) and tubers (?_tuber) was compared under two water regimes in two potato‐improved varieties selected to maintain yield under drought conditions (Unica and Sarnav) and one drought susceptible European cultivar (Désirée). In the control treatment, soil water content was kept at field capacity over the whole growth cycle, while in the drought treatment water supply was restricted after tuber initiation (50 % of field capacity). Gas exchange and N content per unit leaf area (N_area) as well as ? were assessed at different stages. Sarnav showed the highest tuber yield in both water conditions, suggesting that yield in the water restriction treatment was largely driven by yield potential in this genotype. Higher stomatal conductance (g_s) and N_area and lower ?_leaflet in well‐watered Sarnav suggested higher photosynthetic capacity. Under water restriction, Sarnav maintained higher g_s indicating that carbon diffusion was a key factor for biomass accumulation under water restriction. Our results suggest the use of ? determined after tuber initiation as an indirect selection indicator for tuber yield under both well‐watered and restricted soil water availability conditions.     

不同种质玉米自交系种子萌发的干旱胁迫研究

种子萌发期被认为是作物生长的关键时期,也是衡量作物耐旱性强弱的重要时期。为了明确不同玉米自交系的耐旱性,本研究采用聚乙二醇(PEG)模拟干旱条件,对254份不同种质玉米自交系进行种子萌发期处理。通过检测发芽指数、发芽率、根数、根鲜重、根干重、茎鲜重、茎干重、根长、苗高等种子发芽性状,以其相对值为指标,鉴定不同自交系种子萌发期的耐旱性。结果表明,在5%PEG6000浓度胁迫时,种子萌发程度低,当PEG浓度为10%时,种子萌发受抑制程度较高；各性状相对指标都与品种综合抗旱能力呈显著或极显著正相关；不同自交系的耐旱性存在较大差异,通过隶属函数法结合抗旱分级标准筛选出99份中等耐旱材料。因此,该方法可以作为一种简单的玉米自交系萌发期耐旱性鉴定方法。     

油棕新品种对干旱胁迫的生理响应及其抗旱性评价

在不同程度的人工干旱胁迫下，测定10个油棕品种的叶绿素、游离脯氨酸、可溶性蛋白、可溶性糖、丙二醛含量、相对电导率、SOD与POD酶活性等，并利用SAS8.1统计主成分分析法，对10个油棕品种的抗旱能力进行综合评价。结果表明：(1)在干旱胁迫初期(0～5 d)，油棕各生理指标向着有利于适应抗旱的方向变化；随着干旱时间的延长(5～30 d)和胁迫程度的加剧(trt1～trt3)，各指标反映出油棕植株受害；当胁迫达50 d时，各生理指标几乎都向着抗旱有利的方向转变，表明油棕对干旱有较强的耐受性；(2)主成分分析表明，叶绿素含量、相对电导率、可溶性糖含量和SOD酶活性是反映油棕干旱胁迫的最重要的生理指标，可作为油棕品种抗旱性评价的依据；(3)10个油棕品种的综合抗旱力排序为：RYL34＞RYL39＞RYL38＞RYL32＞RYL37＞RYL31＞RYL36＞RYL40＞RYL33＞RYL35。     

Morphological and Physiological Responses of Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) and Chicory (Cichorium intybus) to Water Stress and Defoliation Frequency

Plants are often subjected to periods of water stress. There are little data examining the effect of water stress on the forage species Plantago lanceolata and Cichorium intybus. In two pot experiments with P. lanceolata and C. intybus, morphological responses under optimum, dry, and very‐dry water treatments with weekly, fortnightly and 3‐weekly defoliation intervals and physiological responses under optimum and very‐dry water treatments were measured. A third experiment compared the rooting depths of P. lanceolata and C. intybus under field conditions. These findings suggest that both P. lanceolata and C. intybus can survive and continue to grow under water stress conditions with the main differences between the two species being attributable to morphological characteristics (root mass, taproot diameter and shoot mass fraction) rather than differences at a physiological level. Overall, the results suggest plantain may be more productive under moderate drought due to its greater shoot mass fraction, whereas chicory may be more productive and persistent under severe drought due to its greater root mass, taproot diameter and root depth under field conditions.     

气候变化背景下济南市长清区干旱灾害风险评价研究

综合干旱类型,从致灾因子的危险性、敏感性、易损性及防灾减灾能力4个指标出发,分析气候变化背景下的山东省济南市长清区干旱灾害风险变化。结果表明,长清区干旱危险性分布特征总体表现为由西北向东南递减的趋势;干旱灾害孕灾体敏感性总体呈现出由西南向东北递减的趋势;干旱灾害易损性分布基本以行政区为单位,高易损性分布在除平安街道办事处外的西部地区;干旱灾害的防灾减灾能力总体呈现东北高、西南低的分布特征;干旱综合风险性呈现西南高、东北低的分布规律。     

Inheritance of growth vigour and its association with other characters in chickpea

Growth vigour plays an important role in the establishment of a normal crop. The F₂ population of a cross between high‐ and low‐growth vigour varieties of chickpea segregated into 15 high : 1 low growth vigour. The results for recombinant inbred lines and BC1P₂ showed a good fit to the expected 3 : 1 ratio. The results indicated that growth vigour is controlled by two genes with duplicate dominant epistasis. No gene has so far been identified for growth vigour in chickpea. Correlation between growth vigour and other characters showed that high growth vigour had significant negative correlation with days to first flower, days to 50% flowering, days to first pod and days to maturity.     

An evaluation of seed and seedling drought tolerance screening tests in wheat

Summary A series of experiments was performed in order to evaluate the significance of seed germination and seedling growth in osmotic media as screening methods for drought tolerance.Ten spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em Thell.) and one durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) were tested under controlled environments, using polyethylene glycol-6000 (PEG) solutions as the moisture stress inducing media.Tolerance in the rate of endosperm utilization, under stress, prior to the onset of germination varied among cultivars.Germination rate or injury to germination at various concentrations of PEG differed significantly among cultivars. Cultivar rating with respect to injury to germination changed with stress levels. Injury to germination did not correlate with endosperm utilization rate in PEG or in water.Germinating seedlings were tolerant to extreme desiccation up to the stage of emergence of the first leaf from the coleoptile.Growth of photosynthesizing seedlings was monitored as they were carried through an increasing concentration gradient of PEG solutions, ranging from –5.9 to –11.3 bars of water potential. Cultivars significantly differed in seedling growth tolerance to increasing levels of water stress. Seedling growth tolerance across cultivars was not correlated with their germination responses under srress.It is concluded that tolerance to water stress in growing seedlings can be screened for by using PEG-containing nutrient solutions. It can not be predicted from germination tests in osmotica.Work was done under a US-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) Grant no. 1654/78.Contribution from Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel, No. 192-E, 1979 series.     

Tolerance of barley seed germination to cold- and drought-stress expressed as seed vigour

In barley, high seed vigour is a precondition for rapid and homogenous field emergence and good malting quality. Seed vigour was defined as germination percentage under stress conditions (10°C, drought stress ‐ 2 Bars) in 7‐8 barley varieties grown in 7‐8 locations in the Czech Republic over 7 years. Three of the 7 years were not suitable for high seed quality, probably because of unsuitable weather, as average seed vigour reached only 61, 77 and 86%, respectively. In the remaining 4 years, the average vigour exceeded 94%. The impact of variety on seed vigour was higher in the ‘bad years’ and the impact of location was higher in the other years. Varieties with higher vigour from all locations in the ‘bad years’ were identified. Lower vigour was related to the high occurrence of fungi (indicated by ergosterol assays) and to lower field emergence rates of seed samples. The results support the possibility of selecting for improvement of barley seed vigour, which is related to tolerance to various conditions during emergence and to homogenous malting.     

Genotype × environment interaction in carbon isotope discrimination and seed yield in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.)

Summary Twenty locally-adapted but genetically diverse cowpea genotypes were grown in 17 replicated trials in a range of sites and seasons in the drylands of eastern Kenya, and the discrimination against the heavy isotope of carbon (with a mass of 13) () was determined in grain and straw samples. Most genotypes gave similar, low grain yields in the environments which subjected the plants to drought stress, but high yielding and low yielding genotypes were clearly distinct in the less stressful environments. The converse pattern was found for : the genotypes were all very similar in the non-stressful (high-) environments, but in the stressful environments, low- (drought susceptible) and high- (drought avoiding) genotypes were clearly distinct. This pattern was clearest for straw , but was also apparent for grain . The early-maturing genotypes, which escaped terminal drought, were generally those with the most stable and highest , but in the case of straw there were statistically significant deviations from this relationship. It is concluded that provides a reliable measure of the specific response of cowpea genotypes to drought, which may be of value in breeding programs provided that carbon isotope discrimination can be measured reasonably economically.     

Evaluation of proline analysis and chlorophyll fluorescence quenching measurements as drought tolerance indicators in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum)

Summary The possibility of using proline accumulation and fluorescence inhibition as predictive tests for drought tolerance in durum wheat has been investigated. The drought susceptibility of 25 genotypes was evaluated by comparing yields and yield components in irrigated and non irrigated conditions in the field. A drought susceptibility index (DSI) was calculated based on yields from irrigated and dry treatments and compared with the results obtained using the two physiological criteria. Proline accumulation and chlorophyll fluorescence inhibition were found to be significantly and negatively correlated with DSI of grain yield, biological yield, and thousand kernel weight, and tiller index. The use of both criteria for breeding durum wheat in Mediterranean dryland is discussed.