Evaluating the Waterlogging Tolerance of Wheat Cultivars during the Early Growth Stage Using the Comprehensive Evaluation Value and Digital Image Analysis

Xiaoyi Jiang,Jinfeng Ding,Wenshan Guo,Xinkai Zhu,Dandong Mao,Xingchun Wang,Chunyan Li,Min Zhu

doi:10.3390/agriculture12030384

Xiaoyi Jiang, Jinfeng Ding + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12030384

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Abstract

The accurate and efficient screening of waterlogging-tolerant cultivars is an effective way to mitigate waterlogging damages. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of 28 wheat varieties mainly planted in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China, under control and waterlogging conditions. When the 15-day waterlogging that was initiated at the third-leaf stage was completed, the aboveground dry weight, plant height, leaf number on main stem, culm number, leaf area, and SPAD readings of wheat seedlings were significantly decreased by 14%, 11%, 6%, 13%, 14%, and 15% compared with the control treatment (maintaining approximately 80% of field capacity), respectively. The results showed that the percentage reductions in the dry weight and leaf area under stress accurately represented the influence of the majority of the measured agronomic traits and were significantly negatively correlated with the respective dry weight and leaf area of different cultivars under waterlogging. This suggests that dry weight and leaf area can be used as agronomic traits for screening waterlogging-tolerant cultivars. The comprehensive evaluation value of waterlogging tolerance (CEVW) was closely related to the percentage reduction in dry weight, plant height, culm number, leaf area, and SPAD reading. The range of CEVW was 0.187–0.819, indicating a wide variation in the waterlogging tolerance of the wheat cultivars. Comparing the top-view images, the phenotypic texture parameters (dissimilarity, homogeneity, and angular second moment (ASM)) extracted from the side-view images better reflected the dry weight, plant height, and leaf area under different water treatments. The percentage reduction in ASM had the strongest correlation with CEVW (root mean square error = 0.109); thus, the ASM is recommended as a suitable phenotypic parameter to evaluate waterlogging tolerance. The present results provide references for the rapid and intelligent screening of waterlogging-tolerant wheat cultivars, but future studies need to consider the stress evaluation of the adult plants.

Highlights

Soil waterlogging, an abiotic stress, has been the critical constraint to crop production world-wide, especially in the high rainfall zones, which affected 16% of the soils in United States, 10% of the agricultural lands of Russia, and irrigated crop production areas of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and China [1–3]
A 15-day waterlogging treatment that began at the third-leaf stage significantly decreased the aboveground dry weight, plant height, leaf number on main stem, culm number, leaf area, and SPAD reading (Tables 2 and 3)
Because the shoot dry weight and leaf area did not accurately reflect the leaf chlorophyll content, leaf number, and culm number, we used the comprehensive evaluation value of waterlogging tolerance (CEVW) parameter, a comprehensive assessment of the membership functions based on the theory of fuzzy mathematics, to comprehensively evaluate the seedling performance after waterlogging

Summary

Introduction

An abiotic stress, has been the critical constraint to crop production world-wide, especially in the high rainfall zones, which affected 16% of the soils in United States, 10% of the agricultural lands of Russia, and irrigated crop production areas of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and China [1–3]. Waterlogging affects 10–15 million hectares of wheat annually, causing 20–50% yield losses [4]. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China, an irregular spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation occurs, which frequently results in high soil moisture, causing a waterlogging threat at various growth stages of wheat [2]. Waterlogging negatively affects the growth and development of wheat seedlings by inhibiting root length, decreasing leaf nitrogen concentrations, and reducing tiller number, causing spike number and yield losses [6–9]. This water stress inhibits photosynthesis and respiration of leaves, inducing crop senescence and decreasing photosynthetic matter accumulation, especially when implemented during the medium and late growth phase [4,10–13]. To mitigate waterlogging damage caused to crops, engineering measures controlling soil water and crop management practices have been adopted [4,17], and the breeding and release of waterlogging-tolerant cultivars are considered the most common and effective approaches [18,19]

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