Evaluation of physiological traits as indirect selection criteria for drought tolerance in sugar beet

Drought is the most important limitation to sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) production in the UK and other areas dependent on usually insufficient summer rainfall. As increased irrigation is not a viable answer to the problem, an economically and environmentally desirable solution is new varieties with decreased sensitivity to water deficits. However, there is little genotypic information on drought tolerance in sugar beet, and breeders are not equipped to make these selections. The objectives of this study were to assess the degree of genotypic diversity for drought-related morpho-physiological traits and to measure the strength of association between these traits and indicators of crop performance. 46 sugar beet genotypes with diverse genetic backgrounds were tested in three field experiments from 1999 to 2001. Drought was imposed by covering plots with large polythene tunnels, allowing the crop to grow solely on stored soil moisture. Agronomic characters and drought tolerance indices are described in a companion paper [Ober et al., Assessing the genetic resources to improve drought tolerance in sugar beet. Agronomic traits of diverse genotypes under droughted and irrigated conditions. Field Crops Res., in press]. In this report, we show that there were significant genotypic differences for stomatal conductance, succulence index, specific leaf weight, and osmotic adjustment, but not for photosynthetic rate, relative water content or total water use. Patterns of water use within the soil profile differed between genotypes; some extracted more water from deep soil layers. The maintenance of green foliage cover during drought was positively correlated with drought tolerance index, which was negatively correlated with succulence index and scores for wilting and leaf senescence. Droughted sugar yield was positively correlated with soil water extraction and negatively correlated with relative leaf expansion rate measured in late summer. Under irrigated conditions, there was high positive correlation between transpiration rate and sugar yield. Genotype × trait biplots showed superior genotypes with relatively greater expression of combinations of favourable traits. The results suggest that succulence index and wilting score could be used to cull inferior plants in early stages of breeding programs, and green foliage cover and patterns of water use could help identify superior genotypes in elite germplasm. These data should enable tools to be developed for indirect selection of genotypes suited to drought-prone environments.