Growth kinetics of Marquis wheat. IV. Temperature dependence

Abstract

Earlier described data from this laboratory were subjected to primary growth analysis. The plants had been grown in constant conditions of light intensity (200 to 2500 ft-c) and temperature (10° to 30 °C) at five different settings each. Multiple temperature optima were revealed and interpreted. The computed maximum plant growth coefficient was highest in value at 25 °C (plant kmL = 0.44 day−1) and secondarily so at 15 °C, but at the experimental light intensities the plant growth coefficient was maximal at 15 °C. The higher temperature optimum was characteristic of roots and "stems" (stem plus leaf sheaths) whose growth coefficients displayed a prominent peak at 25 °C (root kmL ~ 0.8 day−1, "stem" kmL = 0.4 day−1). This optimum was shifted downward with decreasing light intensity until temperature insensitivity was attained at low light intensity. The low-temperature optimum at 15 °C was principally displayed by leaf blades (lamina kmL = 0.47 day−1) whose computed maximum growth coefficient also showed a secondary maximum at 25°, but the 15 °C peak was the only one evident at low light intensities. It was tentatively concluded that the 25 °C temperature optimum was that of net translocation, and that the 15 °C temperature optimum was that of net photosynthesis in which photosynthesis was primarily balanced by photorespiration in wheat. The differential growth of the organs represented their relative sink strengths for attracting growth substrate, as dependent on light intensity and temperature. The availability of photosynthate was considered to be the dominating factor in the kinetics of growth free from inorganic limitations. When there was very little photosynthate the tissues benefited from translocation on a "first come first serve" basis. The high values of kmL pushed the absolute maximum plant growth coefficient, kM, of Marquis wheat toward 0.5 or 50% per day, and the basis of the advantage over previous approximations must be elucidated by further experiments. The computed relative efficiency of the use of photosynthate for growth was temperature dependent, but its value at optimum temperature was similar to previous estimates.