Assessing the genetic
relatedness of higher ozone sensitivity of modern wheat to its wild
and cultivated progenitors/relatives
Biswas D.K., Xu H, Li Y.G., Liu M.Z., Chen Y.H., Sun J.Z. &
Jiang G.M*
*correspondence author
State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change,
Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of
Sciences, 20 Nanxincun, 100093 Beijing, PR China
Journal of Experimental
Botany, 2008, 59:
951-963.(IF=5.345, SCI citation 79)
AbstractModern
wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most
ozone (O3)-sensitive crops. However, little is known about its
genetic background of O3 sensitivity, which is
fundamental for breeding O3-resistant cultivars. Wild and
cultivated species of winter wheat including donors of the A, B and
D genomes of T. aestivum were exposed to 100 ppb
O3 or charcoal-filtered air in open top chambers
for 21 d. Responses to O3 were assessed by visible
O3 injury, gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence,
relative growth rate, and biomass accumulation. Ozone significantly
decreased light-saturated net photosynthetic rate (-37%) and
instantaneous transpiration efficiency (-42%), but increased
stomatal conductance (+11%) and intercellular
CO2 concentration (+11%). Elevated
O3 depressed ground fluorescence (-8%), maximum
fluorescence (-26%), variable fluorescence (-31%), and maximum
photochemical efficiency (-7%). Ozone also decreased relative
growth rate and the allometric coefficient, which finally reduced
total biomass accumulation (-54%), but to a greater extent in roots
(-77%) than in the shoot (-44%). Winter wheat exhibited significant
interspecies variation in the impacts of elevated
O3 on photosynthesis and growth. Primitive
cultivated wheat demonstrated the highest relative
O3 tolerance followed by modern wheat and wild
wheat showed the lowest. Among the genome donors of modern wheat,
Aegilops tauschii (DD) behaved as the most
O3-sensitive followed by T. monococcum (AA) and
Triticum turgidum ssp.
durum (AABB) appeared to be the most O3-tolerant.
It was concluded that the higher O3 sensitivity of
modern wheat was attributed to the increased
O3 sensitivity of Aegilops tauschii (DD), but not
to Triticum
turgidum ssp. durum (AABB)
during speciation.