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

Response of Aegilops species to drought stress during reproductive stages of development

Gautam P. Pradhan A , P. V. Vara Prasad A C , Allan K. Fritz A , Mary B. Kirkham A and Bikram S. Gill B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, 2004 Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.

B Department of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University, 4024 Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.

C Corresponding author. Email: vara@ksu.edu

Functional Plant Biology 39(1) 51-59 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP11171
Submitted: 3 August 2011  Accepted: 28 October 2011   Published: 5 December 2011

Abstract

Drought stress is an important abiotic factor limiting wheat yield. Thirty-one accessions of Aegilops species belonging to five species were screened to identify species/accessions tolerant to drought stress and to measure traits associated with the tolerance. Plants were grown at full irrigation, 25/19°C day/night temperature and an 18 h photoperiod. At anthesis (Feekes 10.5.1), drought stress was imposed by withholding water for 16 days. Controls were continuously irrigated. Drought stress decreased chlorophyll content, grain number, individual grain weight and grain yield by 31, 25, 68 and 76% compared with the control. Aegilops geniculata Roth had greater tolerance to drought stress for yield (48% decline from control) compared with other species (>73% decline from control). The tolerance was associated with higher grain number spike–1 and heavier grains. A. geniculata, GenBank accession number TA 10437, was highly tolerant to drought stress with <20% yield decline and a drought stress susceptibility index (DSI) <0.5, whereas TA 1802, TA 2061, TA 1814, TA 1819 were identified as moderately tolerant to drought stress (20–40% yield decline and DSI < 1.0). Our results suggest a presence of genetic variability among Aegilops species that can be utilised in breeding wheat for tolerance to drought stress at reproductive stages.

Additional keywords: abiotic stress, chlorophyll content, drought susceptibility index, grain yield, grain number, individual grain weight, Triticum aestivum, wild wheat.


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