Drought-adaptive attributes in the Seri/Babax hexaploid wheat population
Juan Jose Olivares-Villegas A , Matthew P. Reynolds A C and Glenn K. McDonald BA CIMMYT, Apdo. Postal 6-641, CP 06600, Mexico City, Mexico.
B School of Agriculture and Wine, The University of Adelaide, PMB1 Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: mreynolds@cgiar.org
Functional Plant Biology 34(3) 189-203 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP06148
Submitted: 14 June 2006 Accepted: 8 February 2007 Published: 22 March 2007
Abstract
Agronomic and physiological traits associated with drought adaptation were assessed within the Seri/Babax recombinant inbred line population, which was derived from parents similar in height and maturity but divergent in their sensitivity to drought. Field trials under different water regimes were conducted over 3 years in Mexico and under rainfed conditions in Australia. Under drought, canopy temperature (CT) was the single-most drought-adaptive trait contributing to a higher performance (r2 = 0.74, P < 0.0001), highly heritable (h2 = 0.65, P < 0.0001) and consistently associated with yield phenotypically (r = –0.75, P < 0.0001) and genetically [R (g) = −0.95, P < 0.0001]. CT epitomises a mechanism of dehydration avoidance expressed throughout the cycle and across latitudes, which can be utilised as a selection criteria to identify high-yielding wheat genotypes or as an important predictor of yield performance under drought. Early response under drought, suggested by a high association of CT with estimates of biomass at booting (r = −0.44, P < 0.0001), leaf chlorophyll (r = −0.22 P < 0.0001) and plant height (r = −0.64, P < 0.0001), contrast with the small relationships with anthesis and maturity (averaged, r = −0.10, P < 0.0001), and with osmotic potential (r = −0.20, P < 0.0001). Results suggest that the ability to extract water from the soil under increasing soil water deficit is a major attribute of drought adaptation. The genetic variation and transgressive segregation suggest further genomic and transcriptomic studies for unravelling the complex relationship between drought adaptation and performance under drought.
Additional keywords: drought adaptation, canopy temperature, physiological breeding, yield potential.
Acknowledgements
This research was financially supported by the Cooperative Research Centre for Molecular Plant Breeding (CRCMPB), Australia, while the analyses and writing endeavours were supported by the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC). The support given by the Waite Institute, The University of Adelaide, and the International Maize and Wheat Development Center (CIMMYT) at El Batan Headquarters and Ciudad Obregon Experimental Station is appreciated. The authors thank F. J. Crossa, M. Vargas and J. Burgueño for inestimable statistical advice. The authors are particularly indebted to the field assistants’ efforts at both sides of the Pacific Ocean, in particular to Eugenio Pérez Dorame and to CIMMYT’s Wheat Physiology Team.
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