Abstract
A longer stem elongation phase (from the terminal spikelet-TS to the anthesis-ANT phases) increases grain production due to an increase in spikelet fertility. However, the mechanism behind the greater number of fertile flowers that occur when the duration of stem elongation is modified by photoperiod and vernalization is not fully understood. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of combinations of photoperiod and vernalization on the duration of stem elongation and spikelet fertility in wheat. Thus, a greenhouse experiment was performed by subjecting 13 wheat genotypes to two vernalization regimes (V0—non-vernalized plants and V40—plants with 40 vernalization days) and to two photoperiod regimes (NP—natural and NP + 6—photoperiod extended by six hours), during the stem elongation phase. The natural photoperiod increased the spikelet fertility of eight cultivars without a corresponding increased duration of the TS-ANT phase, suggesting the existence of a direct effect of photoperiod on increased spikelet fertility. Vernalization increased the duration of the TS-ANT phase, without influencing spikelet fertility. There was genetic variability in the responses to photoperiod and vernalization.
Highlights
With the evolution of wheat production of the last decades, it has been observed that not all stages of wheat de-How to cite this paper: Rodrigues, O., et al (2014) Influence of Vernalization and Photoperiod on the Duration of Stem Elongation and Spikelet Fertility in Wheat
No significant interaction was observed between photoperiod, vernalization and cultivar on the duration of the phase between the terminal spikelet and anthesis (TS-ANT) stages
The natural photoperiod increased the duration of the TS-ANT phase only in the cultivar BRS Umbu (Table 1)
Summary
With the evolution of wheat production of the last decades, it has been observed that not all stages of wheat de-How to cite this paper: Rodrigues, O., et al (2014) Influence of Vernalization and Photoperiod on the Duration of Stem Elongation and Spikelet Fertility in Wheat. The phase between terminal spikelet initiation and anthesis (ET-ANT), characterized fast growth of the spike and stem elongation, has been suggested as having greater importance in wheat production [2]-[6]. In this phase, there is a strong relationship between spike biomass at anthesis and number of grains per area [2] [5], determining the grain yield potential. Recent studies have demonstrated that modifying the duration of this phase can change the number of grains and yield [13] [14] [17]-[23]
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