Agronomic evaluation of a tiller inhibition gene (tin) in wheat. II. Growth and partitioning of assimilate
B. L. Duggan A B C , R. A. Richards A and A. F. van Herwaarden AA CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia.
B Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, PO Box 475, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
C Corresponding author; current address: CSIRO Plant Industry, Locked Bag 59, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia. Email: brian.duggan@csiro.au
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56(2) 179-186 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR04153
Submitted: 26 June 2004 Accepted: 24 December 2004 Published: 28 February 2005
Abstract
Wheats with reduced tillering have been proposed for areas regularly subject to a terminal drought. A wheat plant with a genetic disposition to produce fewer stems is now possible through the introgression of a gene that inhibits tillering (tin). This study was conducted to determine the effect of the tin gene on the dynamics of tillering, light interception, and dry-matter production and partitioning in several different cultivars of wheat. Commercial cultivars and their near-isogenic pairs differing in the presence of the tin gene were grown in well-watered tubes and also in the field in south-eastern Australia where terminal drought is common. Tiller number, light interception, leaf area index (LAI), biomass, and the partitioning of biomass were recorded at various intervals throughout the growing season. Water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) levels in the stems of field-grown plants were also determined in some environments at anthesis and maturity. In tubes and in field environments, lines with the tin gene produced tillers at the same rate as their free tillering counterparts but ceased tillering sooner. Under conditions where the free tillering lines produced over 1000 shoots/m2, lines containing the tin gene produced 600 shoots/m2. However, by maturity, fertile spike numbers were 350 and 450/m2 for lines with and without the tin gene, respectively. Despite the large difference in tillering, there were only small differences in LAI, light interception throughout the season, and biomass. There were small differences in the proportional allocation of biomass, and the tin lines partitioned more of their biomass towards spikes at anthesis and stored more WSC in stems. Dry weight distribution varied with genetic background, but in general the tin gene increased leaf area ratio and root to shoot ratio but decreased specific leaf area. It is concluded that the tin gene may be advantageous under terminal drought. This would come from the reduced light interception prior to anthesis and thereby potential for greater transpiration during grain filling as well as a greater capacity for stem carbohydrate storage and remobilisation. These factors are consistent with a greater harvest index and kernel weight associated with lines containing the tin gene.
Additional keywords: Triticum aestivum L., tillering, leaf area, root growth, stem carbohydrates.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Bernie Mickelson, Vikki Fisher, the Ginninderra Experimental Station staff, and the NSW Department of Primary Industries, Condobolin Agricultural Research and Advisory Station staff for their technical assistance. This project was funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
Atsmon D,
Bush MG, Evans LT
(1986) Stunting in ‘Gigas’ wheats as influenced by temperature and daylength. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 13, 381–389.
Atsmon D, Jacobs E
(1977) A newly bred ‘Gigas’ form of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.): morphological features and thermophotoperiodic responses. Crop Science 17, 31–35.
Austin RB,
Edrich JA,
Ford MA, Blackwell RD
(1977) The fate of the dry matter, carbohydrates and 14C lost from the leaves and stems of wheat during grain filling. Annals of Botany 41, 1309–1321.
Austin RB,
Morgan CL,
Ford MA, Blackwell RD
(1980) Contributions to grain yield from pre-anthesis assimilate in tall and dwarf barley phenotypes in two contrasting seasons. Annals of Botany 45, 309–319.
Bidinger F,
Musgrave RB, Fischer RA
(1977) Contributions of stored pre-anthesis assimilation to grain yields in wheat and barley. Nature 270, 431–433.
Donald CM
(1968) The breeding of crop ideotypes. Euphytica 17, 385–403.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Duggan BL
(2000) Evaluation of a tiller inhibition (tin) gene in wheat. PhD thesis, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT.
Duggan BL,
Richards RA,
van Herwaarden AF, Fettell NA
(2005) Agronomic evaluation of a tiller inhibition gene (tin) in wheat. I. Effect on yield, yield components, and protein content. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56, 169–178.
Duggan BL,
Richards RA, Tsuyuzaki H
(2002) Environmental effects on the expression of the tiller inhibition (tin) gene in wheat. Functional Plant Biology 29, 45–53.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gomez-MacPherson H,
Richards RA, Masle J
(1998) Growth of near-isogenic wheat lines differing in development II. Plants in a simulated canopy. Annals of Botany 82, 323–330.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
van Herwaarden AF,
Angus JF,
Richards RA, Farquhar GD
(1998b) ‘Haying-off’, the negative grain yield response of dryland wheat to nitrogen fertiliser. II. Carbohydrate and protein dynamics. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 49, 1083–1093.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
van Herwaarden AF,
Farquhar GD,
Angus JF,
Richards RA, Howe GN
(1998a) ‘Haying-off’, the negative grain yield response of dryland wheat to nitrogen fertiliser. I. Biomass, grain yield, and water use. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 49, 1067–1081.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
van Herwaarden AF,
Richards RA,
Farquhar GD, Angus JF
(1998c) ‘Haying-off’, the negative grain yield response of dryland wheat to nitrogen fertiliser. III. The influence of water deficit and heat shock. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 49, 1095–1110.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hoagland DR
(1937) Some aspects of the salt nutrition of higher plants. Botanical Review 3, 307–334.
Islam TMT, Sedgely RH
(1981) Evidence for a ‘uniculm effect’ in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in a Mediterranean environment. Euphytica 30, 277–282.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Klepper B,
Belford RK, Rickman RW
(1984) Root and shoot development in winter wheat. Agronomy Journal 76, 117–122.
Marshall C, Boyd WJR
(1985) A comparison of the growth and development of biculm wheat lines with freely tillering cultivars. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 104, 163–171.
Palta JA, Fillery IR
(1995) N application enhances remobilization and reduces losses of pre-anthesis N in wheat grown on a duplex soil. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 46, 519–531.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Palta JA,
Kobata T,
Turner NC, Fillery IR
(1994) Remobilization of carbon and nitrogen in wheat as influenced by post-anthesis water deficits. Crop Science 34, 118–126.
Passioura JB
(1976) Grain yield, harvest index, and water use of wheat. Journal of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science 43, 117–120.
Pheloung PC, Siddique KHM
(1991) Contribution of stem dry matter to grain yield in wheat cultivars. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 18, 53–64.
Rawson HM
(1971) Tillering patterns in wheat with special reference to the shoot at the coleoptile node. Australian Journal of Biological Sciences 24, 829–841.
Richards RA
(1988) A tiller inhibition gene in wheat and its effect on plant growth. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 39, 749–757.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Richards RA,
Rebetzke GJ,
Condon AG, van Herwaarden AF
(2002) Breeding opportunities for increasing the efficiency of water use and crop yield in temperate cereals. Crop Science 42, 111–121.
| PubMed |
Richards RA, Townley-Smith TF
(1987) Variation in leaf area development and its effect on water use, yield and harvest index of droughted wheat. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 38, 983–992.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Spielmeyer W, Richards RA
(2004) Comparative mapping of wheat chromosome 1AS which contains the tiller inhibition gene (tin) with rice chromosome 5S. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 109, 1303–1310.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Yemm EW, Willis AJ
(1954) The estimation of carbohydrates in plant extracts by anthrone. The Biochemical Journal 57, 508–514.
| PubMed |
Zadoks JC,
Chang TT, Konzak CF
(1974) A decimal code for the growth stages of cereals. Weeds Research 14, 415–421.
