Relationship of grain yield with carbon isotope discrimination and ash content in lines derived from a bread wheat cultivar

Abstract

The objective was to explore, in lines derived from a bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar, the association of grain yield with carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) and ash content (Ash) determined in both flag leaf and kernel. Divergent selection within the cv. Nestos, based on individual plant yield under very low density (11547 plants/ha), produced 20 lines. Progeny evaluation was conducted in two sites of Northern Hellas (Greece) at both low (11547 plants/ha) and high (5000000 plants/ha) density. The results showed significant differences between lines for grain yield, Δ and Ash. However, only the conclusions on grain yield were similar in low and high density, perhaps because the selection criterion under low density was grain yield. This, combined with the lack of any strong relationship of grain yield with either Δ or Ash, failed to confirm the usefulness of these physiological traits as indirect selection criteria, when the within-cultivar variation for grain yield is exploited. The possible association of grain yield with Δ and Ash appeared to be influenced by various factors such as drought, level of grain yield and altitude. Results also showed that less plant-to-plant variability, as expressed by the coefficients of variation (CV) of single-plant yields, was associated with decreased drought response and higher yield stability. The less stressed lines were those that used water more conservatively till anthesis and maintained a high photosynthetic rate during grain filling.

Relationships of grain carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) and ash content with yield and quality in dry bean

“…since only weak and inconsistent relationships between the two traits were found. In cereals, significant and strong relationships were found between ASH and GY even when the Δ-GY relationships were weak or not significant (Tsialtas et al 2005;Misra et al 2006). Such findings were not evident in this study.…”

“…Ash content of plant tissues (ASH) was proposed as a lowcost and easily measured surrogate for Δ (Araus et al 1998;Merah et al 2001b;Tsialtas et al 2002). In wheat, ASH was related with GY even when the relationship between Δ and GY was not significant (Tsialtas et al 2005;Misra et al 2006). Dry bean cultivars showed substantial variation for grain ASH, which was also associated with nutrient content in grains (Ceyhan 2006).…”

Conservation Breeding of Elite Cultivars

“…The two plant groups were found to significantly differentiate for seed C isotope discrimination and seed ash content. The 20 sister lines were tested across two locations under both ultra‐low density and the typical farming density (Tokatlidis et al, 2004; Tsialtas et al, 2005). Under both density regimes, the sister lines differed significantly for four seed traits: yield, protein content, C isotope discrimination, and ash content.…”

“…Intracultivar breeding improved stability across densities—an essential agronomic trait to bridge the gap between harvested and potential yield—promote sustainability and advance the effectiveness of the crop to use resources in diverse agroecosystems induced by climate changes (Tokatlidis et al, 2004). There was a possibility of advancing the seed protein content and taking advantage of lower seed C isotope discrimination (Δ) associated with higher water use efficiency (Tokatlidis et al, 2004; Tsialtas et al, 2005).…”

“…Tsialtas et al (2001Tsialtas et al ( , 2005;Tokatlidis et al (2004) T hree upland cotton cultivarsSeed cotton yield, four fiber-quality traits, and three physiological traitsTokatlidis et al (2008);Tsialtas et al (2008) …”