ETHYLENE AND FATTY ACIDS AS MARKERS OF STRESS RESISTANCE IN WINTER WHEAT

Abstract

There are a number of global problems in the agricultural sector of Ukraine, including environmental factors such as climate change, floods and droughts, which cause damage to plant tissues and significant losses of food crops. A significant obstacle to the development of agriculture and food security in Ukraine are biotic factors, in particular pathogenic bacteria, viruses and microfungi. Fusarium are the most widespread and aggressive pathogens to grain crops, especially to wheat. These obstacles can be overcome by introducing wheat varieties resistant to Fusarium into agronomic practice. However, selection of resistant wheat to fusariosis along the path of traditional centuries-old selection is a laborious and expensive road. However, selection of resistant wheat to fusariosis along the path of traditional centuries-old selection is a laborious and expensive road. Therefore, the search for new effective tools that will facilitate the selection of plants with desirable characteristics at the early stages of breeding programs is an urgent task. Methods. Wheat varieties of different resistance to abiotic and biotic factors in field conditions were used in laboratory studies: resistant, semi-resistant and non-resistant. Ethylene and fatty acids were determined by gas chromatographic methods. The results. Patterns of ethylene and fatty acid synthesis of winter wheat varieties with different resistance to biotic and abiotic factors were revealed. Resistant varieties are characterized by a significantly higher content of these compounds compared to non-resistant varieties. A similar regularity was found in relation to the lodging of plants: the higher the content of these compounds, the greater the resistance to lodging. Conclusions and perspectives. This article describes two methods of assessing the resistance of winter wheat to abiotic and biotic stresses, which can be implemented in breeding programs.