Abstract
Three cytokinin derivatives (CKd) designated as RR-G, RR-O, and RR-V applied by foliar spraying at tillering, and one compound previously described as a cytokinin antagonist (CKa) designated as RR-P applied as a seed coating were tested in winter wheat and spring barley in field trial experiments. The aim of the study was to examine the influence of the compounds that were tested on the number of productive tillers, grain yield, and endogenous CK content. With the exception of the compound RR-V, the measured parameters clearly showed the stimulatory effects of CKd on tillering and grain yield in spring barley and winter wheat. The RR-V showed a stimulatory effect on the number of productive tillers and yield in spring barley, but not in winter wheat. Although in winter wheat CKa stimulated both the number of productive tillers and the grain yield, there was an inhibitory effect in terms of the number of productive tillers observed in spring barley. The results of the endogenous cytokinin analysis suggested, among others, the importance of the role of isopentenyl-adenine types of cytokinins in the tillering of spring barley. In conclusion, the cytokinin derivative compounds with an agonistic or antagonistic role showed strong potential for application in the future development of plant growth regulators.
Highlights
Wheat and barley belong to the most important cereals in the world
It has been demonstrated that an increase in the number of non-productive tillers leads to a decrease in the grain yield [5,6,7,8]
The testing of original CKs and cytokinin antagonist (CKa) substances in real field conditions clearly showed that even a single treatment may boost the number of productive tillers and subsequently improve grain yields in wheat and barley
Summary
Wheat and barley belong to the most important cereals in the world. The harvested area of wheat is 214 million ha and barley is 48 million hectares [1]. In cereals we can recognize at least two types of tillers: Productive, which lead to the formation of ears and are most important for the grain yield; and non-productive tillers [3]. The second ones represent an example of a natural “ineffective” process that consumes the plant’s resources but does not produce a yield at the end [4]. Such non-productive tillers often do not survive until the end of the plant’s life. The number of productive tillers and the ratio between productive and non-productive tillers in wheat and barley show a strong correlation with the number of ears before harvesting and grain yield [3]. The final number of ears depends more on the maximum number of shoots produced at the end of tillering than on the total losses of tillers [9]
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