Is Drought Stress Tolerance Affected by Biotypes and Seed Size in the Emerging Oilseed Crop Camelina?

Abstract

One of the main advantages of camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) is its wide environmental adaptability and extreme drought tolerance. The availability of both winter and spring camelina biotypes, characterized by different seed sizes, raises the question about possible differences in their response to drought stress at the emergence stage. To address this, a germination test was set up in controlled conditions, comparing six winter and six spring genotypes with differing seed sizes (ranging from 1.83 to 0.88 g/1000-seeds) under increasing levels of osmotic stress (0, −0.4, −0.8, −1.2, −1.4, −1.6 MPa) using polyethylene glycol (PEG). Camelina withstands mild level of osmotic stress (−0.4 MPa) without significant decrease in germination. Even at −1.2 MPa after 10 d, it still had 75% germination. Significant differences in germination were observed between biotypes, where spring biotypes performed better than winter ones. Shoot and radicle lengths were significantly diminished by imposed osmotic stress, but shoot growth seemed more impacted. In general, spring biotypes had longer shoots and radicles than winter ones. Seed size played a role in the response of camelina to drought, but it depended on biotype and stress level imposed. In particular large seeded spring types had the highest germination percentage and resulted less impaired by osmotic stress, otherwise among the tested winter types the small seeded ones were the best performing. The presented data could be useful for breeding purposes for selecting the appropriate camelina type for sowing in drought-prone regions.

Correlational Analysis of Agronomic and Seed Quality Traits in Camelina sativa Doubled Haploid Lines under Rain-Fed Condition

“…The confirmed superiority of camelina compared with oilseed rape as well as Brassica carinata and B. juncea, means that it is much more resilient to environmental stresses, which leads to its higher performance under rain-fed conditions [47]. Camelina seed yield and quality widely varied across the DH lines in the present study during two cropping seasons.…”

Winter camelina seed quality in different growing environments across Northern America and Europe

“…In particular, results confirmed that Joelle seed is characterized by relatively small size, as in the study by Wittenberg et al (2020), who found that the TKW ranged from 0.96-1.28 g across different years and sowing dates in the US Great Plains. However, winter camelina varieties with larger seed size are available, like Bison, but when compared with Joelle, it showed lower winter survival (Gesch et al, 2018), and a study by Canak et al (2020) indicates that Bison may be more susceptible to drought during germination and emergence. The seed weight of Joelle in the present study increased when precipitation was more evenly distributed throughout the crop's growth cycle, including the 50% flowering to harvest period (Table 4), confirming that camelina is susceptible to heavy moisture conditions causing a general decrease in its qualitative performance (Gesch and Cermak, 2011).…”

Realizing the Potential of Camelina sativa as a Bioenergy Crop for a Changing Global Climate

“…Calena exhibited germination up to 150 mM NaCl and thus might be suitable for cultivation in saline soils [ 293 ], but additional research is required to confirm this suggestion. Comparison of two different genotypes of C. sativa showed that increased water-deficit stress tolerance was associated with differences in stomatal conductance and increased accumulation of osmoprotectants such as proline, sugars, amino acids, and soluble proteins [ 294 ]. Screening of winter and spring genotypes revealed differences in germination under artificial osmotic stress imposed by different concentrations of polyethylene glycol (PEG) [ 295 ].…”