Abstract
The present study aimed to reveal the impact of the stay-green trait in bread wheat under terminal heat stress. Field experiments (early and late sowing; for two consecutive years) were conducted to investigate the influence of terminal heat stress on the morpho-physiological traits in different stay-green types i.e., non-stay-green, moderately non-stay-green, moderately stay-green, and stay-green. In addition, the greenhouse experiment was performed to dissect the stay-green trait in functional stay-green, non-functional stay-green, and non-stay-green genotypes. The results of the field experiments confirmed that genotypes exhibiting the stay-green trait have a significantly high chlorophyll content, normalized difference vegetative index, grain yield, biological yield, kernel weight, and low canopy temperature under control and heat stress conditions. In the greenhouse experiment, functional stay-green and non-functional stay-green genotypes showed a high chlorophyll content and photochemical efficiency, whereas biological yield and grain yield showed a significant relation with the functional stay-green genotype under control and terminal heat stress treatments. The sequencing and expression analysis of chlorophyllide a oxygenase (CaO), light-harvesting complex (Cab), stay-green (SGR), and red chlorophyll catabolite reductase (RCCR) in functional stay-green, non-functional stay-green, and non-stay-green genotypes revealed variations in the exons of CaO and RCCR; and significant difference in the regulation of CaO and Cab at 7 days after anthesis under terminal heat stress. This study confirms that genotypes displaying the stay-green trait can aid wheat breeders to cope with increasing temperature in the impending decades.
Highlights
Agriculture and climate change are internally correlated, as climate change is the main cause of biotic and abiotic stresses
The present study aimed to examine the association of the stay-green trait with the chlorophyll content, photochemical efficiency, normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI), canopy temperature, grain yield, biological yield, kernel weight, the expression profile of chlorophyll catabolism pathway genes (CaO, SGR, and red chlorophyll catabolite reductase (RCCR)), and the photosynthetic responsive gene (Cab) in bread wheat under terminal heat stress
The present study suggested an integrated way to classify a large set of genotypes into non-stay-green, moderately non-stay-green, moderately stay-green, and stay-green types on the basis of the NDVI values recorded between heading and maturity
Summary
Agriculture and climate change are internally correlated, as climate change is the main cause of biotic and abiotic stresses. Agriculture is being affected by climate changes in different ways e.g., variations in global atmospheric CO2 levels, changes in average temperature, heat waves, annual rainfall, and modifications in microbes, pest, or weeds [1,2,3]. Escalating global temperature together with intense and frequent heat episodes is of rising concern to global food security [4,5]. High temperature adversely affects the yield potential of crops by influencing its metabolic pathways. Cereal crops are considered as the ultimate custodian of global food security. The golden ears of bread wheat have been considered as a symbol of global food security since the dawn of civilization
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