Does radiation interception or radiation use efficiency limit the growth of wheat inoculated with tan spot or leaf rust?

Tan spot [Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Died.) Drechs., anamorph Drechslera tritici-repentis) (Died.) Shoem.] and leaf rust (Puccinia triticina Eriks) are major diseases worldwide and some of the main biotic causes of yield and quality reduction in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Although wheat crop losses due to foliar diseases have already been studied based on an ecophysiological approach, none of these studies analyzed the independent effects of foliar pathogens with different nutritional habits. The aim of the present study was to determine the independent effects of (i) Py. tritici-repentis (necrothroph) and (ii) Puccinia triticina (biotroph) on the physiological components of biomass production: accumulated intercepted by green tissue photosynthetic active radiation (IGPAR), radiation use efficiency calculated by intercepted radiation (RUEint) as well as by intercepted by green tissue (RUEgt) in a wide range of Argentine commercial bread wheat cultivars growing in two field environments. Field experiments were carried out during two consecutive years combining a large range of wheat bread commercial cultivars and two levels of inoculation to promote infection of Tan spot and Leaf rust diseases, including a control without inoculation. Treatments were arranged in an experimental split-split plot design with three replications, where the main plots were both diseases, subplots corresponded to inoculation treatments 1- without inoculation (WI), 2- low concentration of inoculum of each disease (LC), 3- high concentration of inoculum of each disease (HC) and ten Argentine bread wheat commercial cultivars were the sub-subplots. Area under disease progress (AUDPC), area under percentage of non-green leaf area (AU %NGLA), crop growth rate (CGR) and healthy area duration (HAD) were calculated. Green leaf area index (GLAI), aboveground biomass (AGB), IGPAR and RUE were measured at three different crop stages (GS39, GS61 and GS82). Increases of inoculum concentration decreased AGB between 8 and 20% mainly explained by reductions in HAD and decreases on IGPAR by 14–18% with higher reductions when the crop was inoculated with Py. tritici-repentis than with P. triticina. Although both diseases reduced the physiological components of accumulated biomass related to radiation interception (IGPAR), RUEint (−23%), RUEgt (−11%) and CGR (−29%) were more reduced, respect to WI, when plants were inoculated with P. triticina compared to Pyrenophora tritici-repentis. The differential responses in RUE could be associated with the nutritional habit of P. triticina that reduces leaf nitrogen concentration, enhance assimilates consume by leaf respiration, reducing radiation use efficiency.