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Delayed development of basal spikelets in wheat explains their increased floret abortion and rudimentary nature.

ABSTRACT: Large differences exist in the number of grains per spikelet across an individual wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) spike. The central spikelets produce the highest number of grains, while apical and basal spikelets are less productive, and the most basal spikelets are commonly only developed in rudimentary form. Basal spikelets are delayed in initiation, yet they continue to develop and produce florets. The precise timing or the cause of their abortion remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated the underlying causes of basal spikelet abortion using shading applications in the field. We found that basal spikelet abortion is likely to be the consequence of complete floret abortion, as both occur concurrently and have the same response to shading treatments. We detected no differences in assimilate availability across the spike. Instead, we show that the reduced developmental age of basal florets pre-anthesis is strongly associated with their increased abortion. Using the developmental age pre-abortion, we were able to predict final grain set per spikelet across the spike, alongside the characteristic gradient in the number of grains from basal to central spikelets. Future efforts to improve spikelet homogeneity across the spike could thus focus on improving basal spikelet establishment and increasing floret development rates pre-abortion.

SUBMITTER: Backhaus AE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10498016 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Delayed development of basal spikelets in wheat explains their increased floret abortion and rudimentary nature.

Backhaus Anna Elisabeth AE Griffiths Cara C Vergara-Cruces Angel A Simmonds James J Lee Rebecca R Morris Richard J RJ Uauy Cristobal C

Journal of experimental botany 20230901 17

Large differences exist in the number of grains per spikelet across an individual wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) spike. The central spikelets produce the highest number of grains, while apical and basal spikelets are less productive, and the most basal spikelets are commonly only developed in rudimentary form. Basal spikelets are delayed in initiation, yet they continue to develop and produce florets. The precise timing or the cause of their abortion remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated ...[more]

PMID: 37338600

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Project description:Floret development is critical for grain setting in wheat (Triticum aestivum), but more than 50% of grain yield potential (based on the maximum number of floret primordia) is lost during the stem elongation phase (SEP, from the terminal spikelet stage to anthesis). Dynamic plant (e.g., leaf area, plant height) and floret (e.g., anther and ovary size) growth and its connection with grain yield traits (e.g., grain number and width) are not clearly understood. In this study, for the first time, we dissected the SEP into seven stages to investigate plant (first experiment) and floret (second experiment) growth in greenhouse- and field-grown wheat. In the first experiment, the values of various plant growth trait indices at different stages were generally consistent between field and greenhouse and were independent of the environment. However, at specific stages, some traits significantly differed between the two environments. In the second experiment, phenotypic and genotypic similarity analysis revealed that grain number and size corresponded closely to ovary size at anthesis, suggesting that ovary size is strongly associated with grain number and size. Moreover, principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the top six principal components PCs explained 99.13, 98.61, 98.41, 98.35, and 97.93% of the total phenotypic variation at the green anther, yellow anther, tipping, heading, and anthesis stages, respectively. The cumulative variance explained by the first PC decreased with floret growth, with the highest value detected at the green anther stage (88.8%) and the lowest at the anthesis (50.09%). Finally, ovary size at anthesis was greater in wheat accessions with early release years than in accessions with late release years, and anther/ovary size shared closer connections with grain number/size traits at the late vs. early stages of floral development. Our findings shed light on the dynamic changes in plant and floret growth-related traits in wheat and the effects of the environment on these traits.

Dataset Information

Delayed development of basal spikelets in wheat explains their increased floret abortion and rudimentary nature.

Publications

Delayed development of basal spikelets in wheat explains their increased floret abortion and rudimentary nature.

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