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Carbon and nitrogen economy of four Triticum aestivum cultivars differing in relative growth rate and water use efficiency
Author(s) -
BOOGAARD R.,
GOUBITZ S.,
VENEKLAAS E. J.,
LAMBERS H.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3040.1996.tb00465.x
Subject(s) - cultivar , nitrogen , agronomy , carbon fibers , environmental science , chemistry , biology , mathematics , organic chemistry , algorithm , composite number
We investigated physiological and morphological traits underlying variation in relative growth rate (KGR) among wheat cultivars. Subsequently, we determined whether higher RGR is correlated with higher water demand and lower plant water use efficiency (WUE p ). Further, the correlation between water use efficiency and leaf nitrogen concentration was examined. For this purpose we chose lour cultivars contrasting in RGR or WUE p . Gas exchange of shoots and respiration of roots were measured on intact plants over a 24 h period, and total carbon and nitrogen concentrations of all plant parts were determined. The highest RGR was achieved by the cultivars with the highest leaf area ratio. WUE p was strongly dependent on photosynthetic water use efficiency and was highest for the cultivars with the highest rate of photosynthesis, which achieved higher rates of photosynthesis per unit leaf nitrogen. We found no evidence for a functional or genetic link between the physiological traits underlying differences in RGR (specific leaf area and leaf area ratio) and those causing variation in water use efficiency (photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate). These results indicate that, in wheat, it may be possible to select simultaneously for traits associated with a high WUE p and a high RGR.