Contribution of ear photosynthesis to grain yield under rainfed and irrigation conditions for winter wheat cultivars released in the past 30 years in North China Plain

Grain yield and associated photosynthesis characteristics during dryland winter wheat cultivar replacement since 1940 on the Loess Plateau as affected by seeding rate

“…4a), and the LAI at anthesis was always positively correlated with those the TGW and yield (Table 5). Wang et al (2016) and Condon et al (2004) also reported that rapid leaf area growth is a beneficial trait in benign environments.…”

Photosynthetic characteristics of non‐foliar organs in main C3 cereals

“…Maximizing the photosynthetic potential of non‐foliar organs is one way to enhance resistance to adverse environments and dramatically increase wheat yields. First, selecting for greater ear photosynthesis might be one avenue to increase ‘sink’ strength, assimilate availability and yield potential as well as to improve adaptations to abiotic stress and climate change (Tambussi et al , , Maydup et al , Wang et al ). Because ear surface, peduncle weight, spike weight and length and awn length are closely associated with the responses of plants to environments, these morphological traits could be used as selection criteria in breeding programs to obtain varieties with high yield stability.…”

“…However, in some species, the photosynthetic activity of non‐foliar organs is limited by their stomatal density and total chlorophyll content, which are lower than those of leaves (Kalachanis and Manetas , Yiotis and Manetas , Hu et al , Zhang et al , , Wang et al ). In the green layer of the pericarp, chloroplasts have developed on the tangential side of the cells and are colocalized with RubisCO (Caley et al , Tambussi et al ).…”

“…Additionally, the photosynthetic contribution of the green organs was significantly higher than the contribution of the flag leaf blade. In examined cultivars released from 1980 to 2012 in the North China Plain, the contribution of ear photosynthesis to grain yield increased from 33.6 to 64.5% under rainfed conditions; in contrast, the contribution of ear photosynthesis increased from 32.2 to 57.2% under irrigated conditions (Wang et al ). In addition to drought stress, heat is also a normal situation after anthesis of cereal crops.…”

“…The capsule walls of castor ( Ricinus communis L.) are photosynthetically active and contribute significantly to carbon fixation and seed yield; as a result, photoassimilates account for 10% of the seed weight (Zhang et al , ). In recent years, the role of non‐foliar photosynthesis has been recognized in crops (Maydup et al , , , Zhan et al , Wang et al ).…”