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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Genetic variability in high temperature effects on seed-set in sorghum

Chuc T. Nguyen A , Vijaya Singh A B E , Erik J. van Oosterom A B , Scott C. Chapman C , David R. Jordan D and Graeme L. Hammer A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A The University of Queensland, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia.

B The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia.

C CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia.

D The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Hermitage Research Facility, Warwick, Qld 4370, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: v.singh@uq.edu.au

Functional Plant Biology 40(5) 439-448 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP12264
Submitted: 5 September 2012  Accepted: 15 January 2013   Published: 22 February 2013

Abstract

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is grown as a dryland crop in semiarid subtropical and tropical environments where it is often exposed to high temperatures around flowering. Projected climate change is likely to increase the incidence of exposure to high temperature, with potential adverse effects on growth, development and grain yield. The objectives of this study were to explore genetic variability for the effects of high temperature on crop growth and development, in vitro pollen germination and seed-set. Eighteen diverse sorghum genotypes were grown at day : night temperatures of 32 : 21°C (optimum temperature, OT) and 38 : 21°C (high temperature, HT during the middle of the day) in controlled environment chambers. HT significantly accelerated development, and reduced plant height and individual leaf size. However, there was no consistent effect on leaf area per plant. HT significantly reduced pollen germination and seed-set percentage of all genotypes; under HT, genotypes differed significantly in pollen viability percentage (17–63%) and seed-set percentage (7–65%). The two traits were strongly and positively associated (R2 = 0.93, n = 36, P < 0.001), suggesting a causal association. The observed genetic variation in pollen and seed-set traits should be able to be exploited through breeding to develop heat-tolerant varieties for future climates.

Additional keywords: heat tolerance, pollen germination, seed set percentage.


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