Growth characteristics of eight Aegilops tauschii provenances, wheat (C3) and maize (C4) seedlings
1999
Natr, L. | Cernohorska, J. (Karlova Univ., Prague (Czech Republic)) | Holubec, V. | Zvara, K.
For both the understanding of the evolution process and use in selection better knowledge is needed on physiological differences between the cultivated plants and their ancestors. We cultivated eight Aegilops tauschii provenances and measured some growth characteristics of their seedlings. Included were also Triticum aestivum and Zea mays. Dry matter of the shoot and root, nitrogen content of the plants, and leaf area of individual leaves were measured at two samplings when plants were 14 and 22 days old. Plant dry mass, leaf growth rate, phyllochron and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) were calculated. Relative growth rate (RGR) and net assimilation rate (NAR) were also determined. Maize seedlings produced the highest dry matter and leaf area per plant as well as RGR and especially NAR. Wheat seedlings had the lowest values of both RGR and NAR indicating that a lower rate of photosynthesis compared with Ae. tauschii and maize (C4) might be typical for them. This would confirm that not only adult plants but also seedlings of modern varieties have lower photosynthetic rates compared with their ancestors. On the other hand, there was no difference among all the measured genotypes in NUE. Ae. tauschii provenances were shown to be relatively uniform in most of the analysed parameters.
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