Effect of Moisture Stress on Agronomic and Morphological Characteristics of Recombinant Inbred Lines in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• H Nourizadeh ¹
• M. H Ehtemam ¹
• A Arzani ¹
• M Esmailzadeh-Moghadam ²

¹ Isfahan University of Technology

² Seed and Plant Improvement Institute

10.22067/gsc.v14i4.31822

Abstract

Introduction
Drought stress as the most important abiotic stress plays an important role in yield reduction of crops worldwide. Considering the extends and problems caused by the moisture stress, agronomic and breeding strategies in reducing yield loss are essential. In this regard, the identification and selection of effective characteristics of wheat under drought stress in increasing yield, is essential. Determining the most important morphological characteristics affecting wheat yield under stress, in order to achieve the criteria for selection to improve the performance of this plant always has been important in breeding programs. Due to the variation in drought tolerance in wheat genotypes, it is necessary for efficient water usage in each region, cultivars with higher performance and better compatibility under lower irrigation requirement should be determined for efficient water use particularly in regions with scarce water resources. Improvement of a complex trait such as yield possessing low heritability, requires indirect selection using simpler traits viz morph-physiological traits.
Materials and Methods
This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of water stress on the agronomic and morphological traits of 169 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), using two separate lattice design (drought and control) at Research Farm of Isfahan University of Technology in 2011-2012. Recombinant inbred lines of wheat were obtained from the International Center for Wheat and Maize Improvement (CIMMYT) in Mexico. The recombinant inbred lines used in this study were derived from a cross between two Seri M82 and Babax parents after being selfed for 8 generations (F9). Seeds of each line were planted in a three meter row with a row distance of 30 cm. Irrigation, fertilization and control weeds in the experimental was conducted and to provide plant requirement N, based on soil analysis, urea fertilizer at the rate of 100 kg per hectare in two stages of growth were added to the ground in early spring. Two moisture regimes of 70 and 130 mm evaporation from evaporation pan class A (16% and 20% moisture by weight of soil, respectively) were employed, and soil moisture was measured during two irrigation treatments. In both experiments normal irrigation was conducted till middle of jointing stage, and were irrigated afterward based on class of the evaporation pan.
Results and Discussion
Drought stress significantly reduced days to heading, days to pollination, days to maturity, spike length, plant height, the number of spikes per m2, the number of grains per spike, grain weight in the spike, 1000-grain weight, biological yield, grain yield and harvest index. Results of analysis of variance revealed significant differences among lines for all studied traits under normal conditions with the exception of number of grains per spike, grain weight in the spike, spike length, days to pollination and days to maturity. Under moisture stress conditions, the RILs significantly varied between the studied traits with the exception of number of grains per spike, 1000-grain weight and spike length. The correlation coefficients in the normal conditions showed that all traits had a positively correlated with grain yield with the exception of spike length and days to pollination. Under the moisture stress conditions the grain yield was correlated with all traits positively. The results of the factor analysis in both normal and stress moisture conditions showed that the measured traits have appeared either in a hidden factors which explained 67.09% and 84.26% of the total variation of the yield, respectively. Using three dimensional profiles, lines 4, 27 and 40 as the superior genotypes were introduced in terms of three factors. Based on the Fernandez’s drought tolerance index lines 1 and 69 were identified as the most drought tolerant and the most drought sensitive ones, respectively. The results of stepwise regression on the grain yield under normal and moisture-stress conditions revealed that the number of spikes per m2 and the grain weight in spike contributed 95% of the grain yield variations in both environmental conditions.
Conclusions
The results showed significant effects of drought on crop yield, morphological and phenological (days to maturity, days to pollination and days to heading), and only on the number of grains per plant, grain weight and spike were not significant. Therefore, in spite of inheritance variation in the studied lines supported by their effects from the environmental conditions. Also, considering the high heritability of these traits, it was concluded that these traits were less affected by the environment. Under normal compared to water stress conditions, the narrow-sense heritability of harvest index was lower. In normal conditions, the highest narrow-sense heritability belonged to the number of spike per m² (77%), but under water stress conditions, belonged to the grain yield (84%). According to the results, it can be concluded that the number of spikes per m2 and the grain weight in spike have been the two most important components of gain yield under both normal and drought stress conditions. Moreover, the superior drought tolerance lines have the potential to improve the grain yield in both environmental conditions in the breeding programs.

Keywords

• Drought stress
• Drought Tolerance Index
• grain yield
• Lattice design
• Yield components

20.1001.1.20081472.1395.14.4.5.8

---

References

1. Abdolshahy, R., Taleei, A.R., Omidi, M., and Yazdi Samadi, B. 2010. Study of the physiological and morphological characteristics associated with stress tolerance in bread wheat. Iranian Journal of Field Crop Science 41: 247-258. (in Persian).

2. Ahmadi, A., Ysvndh, R., and Poshiny, k. 2006. The interaction between stress and timing of nitrogen fertilizer on yield and physiological characteristics associated with wheat. Iranian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 37: 113-123. (in Persian).

3. Akram, Z., Ajmal, S., and Munir, M. 2008. Estimation of correlation coefficient among some yield parameters of wheat under rainfed conditions. Pakistan Journal Of Botany 40: 1777-1781.

4. Arzani, A. 2001. Modified crops (translation). Second Edition, published by the Isfahan University of Technology. (in Persian).

5. Arzani, A. 2002. Grain yield performance of durum wheat germplasm under Iraninan dry land and irrigated field conditions. Sabrao Journal of Breeding and Genetics 34: 9 - 18.

6. Blum, A. 2005. Drought resistance, water-use efficiency and yield potential–are they compatible, dissonant or mutually exclusive? Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56: 1159-1168.

7. Dofing, S.M., and Knight, C.W. 1992. Alterneative model for path ananlysis of small-grain yield. Crop Science 32: 487-489.

8. Doorenbos, J., and Kassam, A.H. 1992. Yield response to water. FAO irrigation and drainage paper 33.

9. Ehdaie, B., Alloush, G.A., and Waines, J.G. 2008. Genotypic variation in linear rate of grain growth and contribution of stem reserves to grain yield in wheat. Field Crops Research 106: 34-43.

10. Farid, N., and Ehsanzadeh, P. 2006. Yield and yield components of safflower genotypes and their response to treatment inflorescence and leaf shading on the side, in the spring planting in Isfahan. Journal of Science and Technology of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 10: 189-197 (in Persian).

11. Farshadfar, A. 1997. Identify methods of plant breeding, publications Razi University in Kermanshah (in Persian).

12. Fayaz, N., and Arzani, A. 2011. Moisture stress tolerance in reproductive growth stages in triticale (X Tritcosecale Wittmack) cultivars under field conditions. Crop Breeding Journal 1: 1- 12.

13. Fernandez, G.C.J. 1992. Effective selection criteria for assessing plant stress tolerance. pp: 257-270. In: C. G. Kuo (Ed.). Adaptation of Food Crops to Temperature and Water Stress. AVRDC, Shanhue, Taiwan.

14. Fischer, R.A., and Mourer, R. 1978. Drought resistance in spring wheat cultivars. I. Grain yield responses. Australian Journal of Agricultural. Research 29: 897-912.

15. Garcya, Del., Moral, L.F., Rharrabti, Y., Villegas, D., and Royo, C. 2003. Evaluation of grain yield and its components in durum wheat under Mediterranean Condition: An onotogenic approach. Agronomy Journal 95:266-274.

16. Ghodsi, M., Chaychi, M., Jalal-Kamali, M.R., and Mazaheri, D. 2004. Determination of susceptibility of developmental stages in bread wheat to water stress and its effects on yield and yield components. Seed Plant Journal 20: 489-509 (in Persian).

17. Golabadi, M., and Arzani, A. 2003. Genetic and functional analysis of agronomic traits in durum wheat, Journal Of Science And Tenhnology Of Agriculture And Natural Resource 1: 115-126 (in Persian).

18. Golabadi, M., Arzani, A., and Maibody, S.M.M. 2005. Evaluation of variation among durum wheat F3 families for grain yield and its components under normal and water stress field conditions. Czech Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding 41: 263-267.

19. Gooding, M.J., Ellis, R.H., Shewry, P.R., and Schofield, J.D. 2003. Effect of restricted water availability and increased temperature on the grain filling, draying and quality of winter wheat, Journal of Cereal Science 37:295-309.

20. Gouranga, K., Ashwani, A., and Martha, M. 2007. Water use efficiency and crop coefficients of dry season oilseed crops. Agricultural Water Management 87: 73-82.

21. Hoshmand, S. 2001. Genetic analysis of quantitative traits (translation), Shahrekord University Press (in Persian).

22. Huyuan, F., Xue, L.S., and Wang, L.X. 2007. The interactive effects of enhanced UV-B radiation and soil drought on spring wheat. South African Journal of Botany 73: 429-434.

23. Imam, Y., Ranjbaran, G., and Bohrani, M. 2007. Evaluation of grain yield and its components in wheat genotypes under drought conditions after flowering. , Journal Of Science And Tenhnology Of Agriculture And Natural Resources 11: 317-327. (in Persian).

24. Inamullah, H., Ahmad, F., Sirajuddin, M., Hassan, G., and Gul, R. 2006. Diallel analysis of the inheritance pattern of agronomic traits of bread wheat. Pakistan Journal of Botany 38: 1169-1175.

25. Johnson, R.A., and Wichern, D.W. 2007. Applied multivariate statistical analysis. (4th ed.), Prentice Hall International, INC. New Jersey.

26. Leilah, A., and AL-Khateebs, A. 2005. Statistic analysis of wheat yield under drought condition. Journal of Arid Environments 61: 483-490.

27. Leinbos, V., and Bergm, H. 1995. Changes in yield, ligin content and protein patterns of barley (Hordeum vulgare CV. Alexis) induced by drought stress. Angewandie Botanik. 69: 206-210.

28. Lobnani, M., and Arzani, A. 2011. Morpho-physiological traits associated with terminal drought-stress tolerance in triticale and wheat. Agronomy Research 9:315-329.

29. Lynnemclntyre, C., Mathews, K.L., Rattey, A., Chapman, C.S., Drenth, J., Ghaderi, M., Reynolds, M., ,and Shorter, R. 2010. Molecular detection of genetic regions associated with grain yield and yield–related components in an elite bread cross evaluted under irrigated and rainfed conditions. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 120: 527-541.

30. Moghadam, M. 1994. An introduction to multivariate statistical methods (translation), a leading publisher of science, Tabriz (in Persian).

31. Mozaffari, K., and Asadi, A.A. 2006. Relationships among traits using correlation, principal components and path analysis international safflower mutants sown in irrigated and drought stress condition. Asian Journal of Plant Sciences 5: 977-983.

32. Paknejad, F., Majidi, E., Seadat, A., and Vazan, S. 2007. Evaluation of drought stress on effective traits at accumulative assimilate of grain in different cultivars of wheat. International Journal Of Agricultural Science and Research 11: 137-149 (in Persian).

33. Pierre, C.S., Petersona, J., Rossa, A., Ohma, J., Verhoevena, M., Larsona, M., and Hoefera, B. 2008. White wheat grain quality changes with genotype, nitrogen fertilization, and water stress. Agronomy Journal 100: 414-420.

34. Porch, T.G. 2006. Application of stress indices for heat tolerance screening of common bean. J.Agron. Crop Science 192, 390-394.

35. Richards, R.A., Condon, A.G., and Rebetzkej, G. 2001. Traits to improve yield in dry environments. p. 240. In: Reynolds, M. P., J. I. Ortiz-Monasterio, and A. McNab. (Eds.), Application of physiology in wheat breeding. Mexico, D. F. CIMMYT.

36. Rosielle, A.A., and Hamblin, J. 1981. Theoretical aspects of selections for yield in stress and non-stress environments. Crop Science 21: 943-946.

37. Saeedi, G., Abbasi, Z., and Mirlohi, A. 2003. Genetic variation, heritability and relationships between agronomic traits in genotypes of flax seed with yellow and brown colors, Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, 10: 99-144 (in Persian).

38. Saleem, M. 2003. Respons of durum and breed wheat genotypes to drought stress. Asian Journal of Plant Science 2: 290-293.

39. Sanchez-Blanco, M.J., Rodringuez, P., Olmos, E., Morales, M.A., and Torrecillas, A. 2004. Differences in the effects of simulated sea aerosol on water relations, mineral content and ultrastructural in Cistus albidus and Cistus monspeliensis Plants. Journal of Environmental Quality 33: 1369-1375.

40. Sanjari, P.A., and Yazdansepas, A. 2008. Mobilization of dry matter and its relation with drought stress in wheat genotypes. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology 11: 121-129.

41. Schillinger, W.F. 2005. Tillage method and sowing rate relations for dry land spring wheat, barley and oat. Crop Science 45:2636-2643.

42. Shahbazi, H. 2012. Evaluation of the tolerance in wheat recombinant inbred lines under field conditions, MSc thesis Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture. Isfahan University of Technology. (in Persian).

43. Shah, N.H., and Paulsen, G.M. 2003. Interaction of drought and high temperature on photosynthesis and grain-filling of wheat. Plant Soil 257:219-226.

44. Sio-Se Mardeh, A., Ahmadi, A., Poustini, K., and Mohammadi V. 2006. Evaluation of drought resistance indices under various environmental conditions. Field Crops Research 98: 222-229.

45. Taleei, A., and Nourmohamadi, S. 1994. The heritability of public and private, for agronomic traits in three crossed of bread wheat. Journal of Agricultural Science 25: 79-86. (in Persian).

46. Trethowan, R.M., and Reynolds, M. 2007. Drought resistance: Genetic approaches for improving productivity under stress. pp: 289-299 In: Buck H. R. (ed.): Wheat production in stressed environments, Springer, the Netherlands.

47. Zakizadeh, M., Esmaeilzadeh, M., and Kahrizi, D. 2010. Study on genetic variation and relationship between plant characteristics and grain yield in long spike bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes-using multivariate analysis. Iranian Journal of Crop Sciences 12: 18-30. (in Persian).

48. Zeinali abadi, H. 1998. Evaluation of phenotypic and genotypic diversity and evaluation of yield and its components in wheat breeding MSc thesis, Faculty of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology. (in Persian).