The fifth leaf and spike organs of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) display different physiological and metabolic responses to drought stress.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Photosynthetic organs of the cereal spike (ear) provide assimilate for grain filling, but their response to drought is poorly understood. In this study, we characterized the drought response of individual organs of the barley spike (awn, lemma, and palea) and compared them with a vegetative organ (fifth leaf). Understanding differences in physiological and metabolic responses between the leaf and spike organs during drought can help us develop high yielding cultivars for environments where terminal drought is prevalent.

Results

We exposed barley plants to drought by withholding water for 4 days at the grain filling stage and compared changes in: (1) relative water content (RWC), (2) osmotic potential (Ψ_s), (3) osmotic adjustment (OA), (4) gas exchange,

SUBMITTER: Hein JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5103489 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature