Genotypic variation for drought stress response traits in soybean. I. Variation in soybean and wild Glycine spp. for epidermal conductance, osmotic potential, and relative water content
A. T. James A , R. J. Lawn B D and M. Cooper CA Department of Agriculture, University of Queensland, St Lucia Qld 4072; now CSIRO Plant Industry, Queensland Biosciences Precinct, 306 Carmody Rd, St Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia.
B Tropical Crop Science Unit, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811 and CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Davies Laboratory, Townsville, Qld 4814, Australia.
C Department of Agriculture, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia; now Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., PO Box 1004, Johnston, Iowa 50131, USA.
D Corresponding author. Email: Robert.Lawn@jcu.edu.au
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 59(7) 656-669 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR07159
Submitted: 19 April 2007 Accepted: 18 March 2008 Published: 3 July 2008
Abstract
Studies were undertaken to assess genotypic variation in soybean and related wild species for traits with putative effects on leaf turgor maintenance in droughted plants. Traits of interest were (i) epidermal conductance (ge) which influences the rate of water loss from stressed leaves after stomatal closure; (ii) osmotic adjustment (OA) as indicated by tissue osmotic potential (π), which potentially affects the capacity to withdraw water at low soil water potential; and (iii) relative water content (RWC) at incipient leaf death (critical relative water content, RWCC), which is a measure of the dehydration tolerance of leaf tissue. The germplasm comprised a diverse set of 58 soybean genotypes, 2 genotypes of the annual wild species G. soja and 9 genotypes representing 6 perennial wild Glycine spp. indigenous/endemic to Australia. Seedling plants were grown in soil-filled beds in the glasshouse and exposed to terminal water deficit stress from the second trifoliolate leaflet stage (21 days after sowing). Measurements were made on well watered plants, moderately stressed plants, and at incipient plant death, in 2 separate studies. In both studies, there were significant genotypic differences in all 3 traits in the stressed plants. However, across the 3 sample times, ge decreased and the absolute magnitude of π increased, indicating that the expression of these traits changed as the plants acclimated to the stress. RWC was therefore used as a covariate to adjust the genotypic values of π and ge in order to facilitate comparison at a consistent plant water status of 70% RWC. There was statistically significant genotypic variation for the adjusted values, ge70 and π70, in both studies, and genotypic correlations between the 2 studies were significant (P < 0.05) and positive for all 3 traits: ge70 (r = 0.48), π70 (r = 0.50), and RWCC (r = 0.53). Among the soybean genotypes, there was at least a 2-fold range in ge70, a 0.7 MPa range in π70, and a 12 percentage point range in RWCC. Some of the perennial wild genotypes exhibited lower values of ge and RWCC and greater OA than soybean and G. soja, consistent with adaptation to drier environments. While the repeatability of measurement between experiments was variable among genotypes, the studies confirmed the existence of genotypic differences for ge, OA, and RWCC in cultivated soybean, with a wider range among the wild germplasm.
Additional keywords: breeding, drought resistance, leaf survival, turgor maintenance, physiology.
Acknowledgments
The research reported here was supported by CSIRO, the Grains Research and Development Corporation, and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and was undertaken in partial fulfillment of the PhD degree awarded to ATJ by the University of Queensland in 2004.
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