Effects of Post‐Anthesis Drought and Waterlogging on Accumulation of High‐Molecular‐Weight Glutenin Subunits and Glutenin Macropolymers Content in Wheat Grain

Abstract

Drought and flooding during grain filling have become major constraints to wheat quality and yield. The impacts of water deficits and waterlogging during the grain filling on contents of high‐molecular‐weight glutenin subunits (HMW‐GS) and of glutenin macropolymers (GMP) in grains of the winter wheat cultivar Yumai 34 with high grain protein content (GPC) and Yangmai 9 with low GPC were studied. At maturity, GPC was higher under drought and lower under waterlogging compared to the control, while contents of GMP and HMW‐GS were reduced by the two water‐stress treatments. The contents of both HMW‐GS and GMP were higher in Yumai 34 than in Yangmai 9. A drought event after anthesis increased the accumulation of HMW‐GS during the early grain filling stage. By contrast, waterlogging reduced the accumulation of HMW‐GS during the whole grain filling phase. At maturity, the HMW‐GS and GMP to protein ratios were also depressed under the two water‐stress events, while the HMW‐GS to GMP ratio was very close between the three treatments in Yumai 34 and much higher under the control than the drought and waterlogging treaments in Yangmai 9. It is concluded that the variation in GMP content with various water‐stress treatments is attributed to the changing in accumulation of HMW‐GS in the grain.

Effects of sulphur fertilizer on glutenin macropolymer content and particle size distribution in wheat grain

“…The increase in GMP content was found to be correlated to the increase of HMW-GS and LMW-GS under sulphur rates. This is consistent with the other findings (Jiang et al 2009). It is suggested that sulphur application improved the accumulation of HMW-GS, LMW-GS and GMP at maturity and also favoured the quality of the wheat grain, but too much of it was unfavourable under normal nitrogen condition.…”

“…It was reported that cultivation measures, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur, significantly affect the accumulation of GMP and HMW-GS (Jiang et al 2009, Ni et al 2014. However, little was known about the influence of the sulphur fertilizer on the content of glutenin subunit.…”

“…Many investigators have demonstrated the effects of some cultivation measures on accumulation of HMW-GS and GMP in wheat (DuPont et al 2006, Jiang et al 2009, Ni et al 2014. Starch content was not influenced by the sulphur fertilizer applied (Dostalová et al 2015).…”

Wheat phenology and yield under drought: A review

“…Plants that go through periods of drought suffer decreased photosynthetic activity during this period, consequently affecting the grain formation (Jiang et al, 2009). To obtain a quality grain, it is necessary that proteins accumulate in the grain.…”

Winter Wheat Quality Responses to Water, Environment, and Nitrogen Fertilization

“…Differences between the studies may be related to the impact of N on the length of the grain-filling period and water and N stress. Jiang et al (2009) reported that water stress after anthesis increased the accumulation of HMW-GS during the early grain-filling stage. Konopka et al (2007) reported that wheat grains obtained under stress conditions were less abundant in LMW-and HMW-GS.…”