Published in AgroLife Scientific Journal, Volume 6, Number 1
Written by Doru-Gabriel EPURE, Marius BECHERITU, Cristian-Florinel CIOINEAG
The main objective of the study was to validate the use of canopy temperature depression (CTD) as a rapid early generation screening tool for drought tolerance in wheat breeding. CTD was measured at 3 drought sites in Romania (Valu lui Traian, Modelu, Drăgăneşti-Vlaşca) on F6. Measurements of chlorophyll content (CHL) on F6 individual plants showed significant correlations with yield. Since a reliable yield estimate requires a plot approximately three times bigger than that needed for an estimate of CTD and CHL, the use of these methods instead of yield estimates may be considerably more efficient. Using alone either CTD or CHL could not provide enough data for drought resistant selection on winter wheat lines. Alternatively, both yield and CTD and CHL could be combined in a selection index as a more powerful indicator of drought tolerance. During the analysed period of three years, the climatic conditions were very different from one year to another. Forty-five lines of winter wheat in two repetition have been used for experiments, conducted in 3 locations in south of Romania. The study shows that genotype with high CTD values are correlated with high CHL values, but has lower drought tolerance. The lines with lower CTD values and high CHL values represent genotypes with high yield on drought conditions.
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