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Cited by 1,243Genetics and Plant BreedingRice Cultivation and Yield ImprovementAgricultural Productivity and Crop Improvement

Plant breeding and drought in C3 cereals: What should we breed for?

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ARAUS, J. L.·2002·Annals of Botany
DOI 10.1093/aob/mcf049PMC PMC4233799
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Abstract

Drought is the main abiotic constraint on cereal yield. Analysing physiological determinants of yield responses to water may help in breeding for higher yield and stability under drought conditions. The traits to select (either for stress escape, avoidance or tolerance) and the framework where breeding for drought stress is addressed will depend on the level and timing of stress in the targeted area. If the stress is severe, breeding under stress-free conditions may be unsuccessful and traits that confer survival may become a priority. However, selecting for yield itself under stress-alleviated conditions appears to produce superior cultivars, not only for optimum environments, but also for those characterized by frequent mild and moderate stress conditions. This implies that broad avoidance/tolerance to mild-moderate stresses is given by constitutive traits also expressed under stress-free conditions. In this paper, we focus on physiological traits that contribute to improved productivity under mild-moderate drought. Increased crop performance may be achieved through improvements in water use, water-use efficiency and harvest index. The first factor is relevant when soil water remains available at maturity or when deep-rooted genotypes access water in the soil profile that is not normally available; the two latter conditions become more important when all available water is exhausted by the end of the crop cycle. Independent of the mechanism operating, a canopy able to use more water than another would have more open stomata and therefore higher canopy temperature depression, and 13C discrimination (delta13C) in plant matter. The same traits would also seem to be relevant when breeding for hot, irrigated environments. Where additional water is not available to the crop, higher water-use efficiency (WUE) appears to be an alternative strategy to improve crop performance. In this context delta13C constitutes a simple but reliable measure of WUE. However, in contrast to lines performing better because of increased access to water, lines producing greater biomass due to superior WUE will have lower delta13C values. WUE may be modified not only through a decrease in stomatal conductance, but also through an increase in photosynthetic capacity. Harvest index is strongly reduced by terminal drought (i.e. drought during grain filling). Thus, phenological traits increasing the relative amount of water used during grain filling, or adjusting the crop cycle to the seasonal pattern of rainfall may be useful. Augmenting the contribution of carbohydrate reserves accumulated during vegetative growth to grain filling may also be worthwhile in harsh environmcnts. Alternatively, extending the duration of stem elongation without changing the timing of anthesis would increase the number of grains per spike and the harvest index without changing the amount of water utilized by the crop.

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  • Wheat yield decreased from 1% to 30% during mild drought stress at post-anthesis, while this reduction increased up to 92% in prolonged mild drought stress at flowering and grain formation.

    “Wheat yield was decreased from 1% to 30% during the mild drought stress at post-anthesis while this reduction increased up to 92% in case of prolonged mild drought stress at flowering and grain formation [49,50].”

    From Impact of Climate Change on Crops Adaptation and Strategies to Tackle Its Outcome: A Review (2019) · cites this paper as [49]

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2 of the 135 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Aparicio N, Villegas D, Casadesu  s J, Araus JL, Royo C. 2000. Spectral re¯ectance indices for assessing durum wheat biomass, green area, and yield under Mediterranean conditions. Agronomy Journal 92: 83±91.
  2. Braun HJ, Payne TS, Morgounov AI, van Ginkel M, Rajaram S. 1998. The challenge: one billion tons of wheat by 2020. In Slinkard AE, ed. Proceedings of the 9th International Wheat Genetics Symposium Vol. 1 (Section 2 Germplasm development and breedingÐKeynote Address). Saskatchewan, 33±40.
  3. Ferrio JP, Bertran E, Nachit MM, Royo C, Araus JL. 2001. Near Infrared Re¯ectance Spectroscopy as a new surrogate analysis for D 13 C in mature kernels of durum wheat. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 52: 809±816.
  4. Miralles DJ, Richards RA. 2000. Response of leaf and tiller appearance and primordia development to interchanged photoperiod in wheat and barley Annals of Botany 85: 655±663.
  5. Slafer GA, Araus JL. 1998. Keynote address: Improving wheat responses to abiotic stresses. In: Slinkard AE, ed. Proceedings of the 9th international wheat genetics symposium vol. 1 (Section 7 Abiotic stresses ± Keynote address). Sasktchewan, 201±213.
  6. Slafer G, Araus JL, Richards RA. 1999. Promising traits for future breeding to increase wheat yield. In: Satorre EH, Slafer GA, eds. Wheat: ecology and physiology of yield determination. New York: Food Product Press, 379±415.
  7. Slinkard AE. 1998. Proceedings of the 9th international wheat genetics symposium vol. 1 (Section 7 Abiotic stresses ± Keynote address). Sasktchewan, 201±243.

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Authors
ARAUS, J. L.
Affiliations
Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
Corresponding author
ARAUS, J. L.
ORCID
ARAUS, J. L.
Venue
Annals of Botany
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2002-06-15
Volume
89
Issue
7
Pages
925-940
ISSN
  • 0305-7364 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-8290
DOI
10.1093/aob/mcf049
PMC
PMC4233799
OpenAlex
W2144167994
Cited by
1,243
References
135
Citations by year
2026: 31 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 54 · 2022: 56 · 2021: 68 · 2020: 73 · 2019: 64 · 2018: 62 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 93 · 2015: 75 · 2014: 89 · 2013: 71 · 2012: 65
FWCI
1.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Annals of Botany (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Genetics and Plant Breeding
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Agricultural Productivity and Crop Improvement
Keywords
drought tolerance, drought tolerance breeding, water use efficiency, 13C discrimination, canopy temperature depression, stomatal conductance, harvest index, grain filling, terminal drought, yield stability, phenological traits, carbohydrate reserves, grain number per spike, stress avoidance, stress tolerance, water consumption, photosynthetic capacity, deep rooting
MeSH terms
Acclimatization, Argentina, Australia, Hordeum, Breeding, Carbon Isotopes, Edible Grain, Disasters, Light, Mexico, Radiometry, Reproduction, Seasons, Seeds, Temperature, Water, Triticum, Crops, Agricultural, Quantitative Trait, Heritable

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