Inherent trait differences explain wheat cultivar responses to climate factor interactions: New insights for more robust crop modelling

Abstract

Climate change predictions foresee a combination of rising CO2, temperature and altered precipitation. Effects of single climatic variables are well defined, but the importance of combined variables and genotypic effects is less known, although pivotal for assessing climate change impacts, for example, with crop growth models. This study provides developmental and physiological data from combined climatic factors for two distinct wheat cultivars (Paragon and Gladius), as a basis to improve predictions for climate change scenarios. The two cultivars were grown in controlled climate chambers in a fully factorial setup of atmospheric CO2 concentration, growth temperature and watering regime. The cultivars differed considerably in their developmental rate, response pattern and the parameters responsible for most of their variation. The growth of Paragon was linked to climatic effects on photosynthesis and mainly affected by temperature. Paragon was overall more negatively affected by all treatment combinations compared to Gladius. Gladius was mostly affected by watering regime. The cultivars' acclimation strategies to climate factors varied significantly. Thus, considering a single factor is an oversimplification very likely impacting the accuracy of crop growth models. Intraspecific crop variation could help understanding genotype by environment variation. Cultivars with high phenotypic plasticity may have greater resilience against climatic variability.

Dominant and Priming Role of Waterlogging in Tomato at e[CO2] by Multivariate Analysis

“…The e[CO 2 ] accelerates plant photosynthesis and improves water-use efficiency unless there are other limiting factors involved [ 2 , 6 , 19 ]. In accordance, higher P n at e[CO 2 ] were observed than at a[CO 2 ] at control conditions for both rounds of treatment in tomato.…”

“…The effects of e[CO 2 ] on tomato plants could be altered when other climatic factors become limited; thereby, the interactive effects of multiple environmental factors such as [CO 2 ] and water regime need further investigation [ 21 ]. For instance, the e[CO 2 ] usually improved water-use efficiency of plants at reduced water conditions due to decreased g s [ 19 , 22 ]. Another example was that the positive effects of e[CO 2 ] on P n of tomato were observed at moderate drought stress but disappeared at severe drought [ 13 ].…”

“…Photosynthesis is one of the most sensitive processes in plants to abiotic stress including waterlogging [ 13 , 19 ], while leaf pigment and chlorophyll fluorescence is closely related with the activity of leaf photosynthesis. The photosynthesis of the cultivated tomato at salinity and combined salinity and waterlogging stress decreased, while that of the wild tomato at individual salinity, waterlogging and their combination dropped [ 18 ].…”

“…The photosynthesis of the cultivated tomato at salinity and combined salinity and waterlogging stress decreased, while that of the wild tomato at individual salinity, waterlogging and their combination dropped [ 18 ]. To improve the understanding of the physiological response of climate change effects on plants, it is critical to explore the responses of photosynthesis and other parameters at leaf-level [ 19 , 20 ]. Hence, herein we analyzed the gas exchange (net photosynthetic rate, P n ; g s ; intracellular CO 2 concentration, C i ; transpiration rate, E), the related leaf pigment indexes, quenching analysis (non-photochemical quenching, NPQ; fraction of open PSII centers, q L ; electron transport rate, ETR; quantum efficiency of PSII, F q ’ /F m ’ ), and final biomass of tomatoes.…”

From diel photosynthesis to crop growth in the crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) orchid Phalaenopsis

“…The number of papers that study the effect of the environment on CAM crop productivity are limited Griffiths, 2014, Niechayev et al, 2019a). This type of research is very topical and timely in C3 and C4 crops, where FACE experiments are used to study the effects of for instance elevated CO2 and temperature on rice (Cai et al, 2018) and wheat (Eller et al, 2020). Research on how crops respond to a broad range of environmental conditions will increase insight in physiology, while the experimental data can simultaneously function as input for crop models.…”