Abstract
Reduced water resources are of increasingly urgent global concern. One potential strategy to address the crisis is the use of drought tolerant crops in agriculture. Barley varieties developed for reduced irrigation (“Solum” and “Solar”) use significantly less water than conventional varieties (“Cochise” and “Kopious”). The underlying mechanism of this drought tolerance is unknown but root structure and function play a key role in plant water uptake. In this study, an empirical survey compared early root development between drought tolerant and conventional varieties. Traits associated with root meristem-regulated cell division including rate of seed germination, border cell number and root cap mucilage production, and root hair emergence were quantified during root emergence. Preliminary results revealed that drought tolerant varieties exhibited faster seed germination and root hair production than conventional varieties. Border cell number and mucilage production in the drought tolerant varieties also were higher than in the conventional variety “Kopious,” but lower than in “Cochise”. Each trait, if found to be linked to the observed drought tolerance, could yield a simple, rapid, and inexpensive tool to screen for new crop varieties. Further detailed studies are needed.
Highlights
Characterization of the physiological aspects of crops grown under drought conditions is a well-recognized methodology for the identification of important secondary traits when breeding for water-limited environments [1,2,3]
Barley is characterized by fast-pre-anthesis growth and high tiller output, traits that are used to explain why barley is well adapted to dry areas [4]
Significant variation in the size of the mucilage layer was confirmed by direct measurement (Table 1)
Summary
Characterization of the physiological aspects of crops grown under drought conditions is a well-recognized methodology for the identification of important secondary traits when breeding for water-limited environments [1,2,3]. Described as fast development of leaf area and/or shoot biomass, early seedling vigor is attributed to advantageous growth of barley over wheat in Mediterranean-type environments [5,6]. Vigorous early growth and canopy shading serve to reduce evaporation from the soil surface thereby increasing available water for crop transpiration [3]. Vigorous root systems are another effective means by which cereals can maximize soil moisture use, if able to access subsoil moisture during reproductive growth when additional water is used for grain development and filling [7]. A study of wheat roots demonstrated an additional 10 mm of water accessed by roots from the subsoil late in the season (post-anthesis) increased grain yield by over 0.50 tons per hectare [9]
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