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Varietal response in wheat to water supply in the field, and male sterility caused by a period of drought in a glasshouse experiment
Author(s) -
BINGHAM J.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
annals of applied biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1744-7348
pISSN - 0003-4746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7348.1966.tb03830.x
Subject(s) - biology , agronomy , pollen , irrigation , sterility , drought tolerance , greenhouse , horticulture , botany
SUMMARY Field experiments in 1961 and 1962 with four winter wheat varieties (Professeur Marchal, Cappelle‐Desprez, Hybrid 46 and Holdfast) compared three water regimes: irrigation to prevent the soil water deficit exceeding 2 in.; shielding from rain; and normal rainfall. The experiments were done on soils selected for their liability to drought. Grain yield was decreased by water deficit; the effects differed between varieties, but the varietal differences were not consistent in the 2 years. In glasshouse experiments, plants of Cappell‐Desprez were subjected to drought for 3–4 days during ear development and subsequently watered normally. When this treatment preceded pollen meiosis by a few days many of the lower florets of each spikelet were male‐sterile but female‐fertile. Also there was often proliferation, within the spikelet, of normally fertile florets above the male‐sterile ones, showing that the number of florets formed may increase until a late stage in ear development. The results of the field experiment suggested that grain yield was restricted by the capacity of the grains as sinks for photosynthates. If so, a genetic improvement in grain yield could be obtained by breeding for an increase in number of florets per spikelet.