Characteristics of the grain-filling process and starch accumulation of high-yield common buckwheat ‘cv. Fengtian 1’ and tartary buckwheat ‘cv. Jingqiao 2’

Abstract

High-yield common buckwheat 'cv. Fengtian 1' (FT1) and tartary buckwheat 'cv. Jingqiao 2' (JQ2) were selected to investigate the characteristics of the grain-filling process and starch accumulation of high-yield buckwheat. FT1 had an average yield that was 43.0% higher than that of the control 'cv. Tongliaobendixiaoli' (TLBDXL) in two growing seasons, while JQ2 had an average yield that was 27.3% higher than that of the control 'cv. Chuanqiao 2' (CQ2). The Richards equation was utilized to evaluate the grain-filling process of buckwheat. Both FT1 and JQ2 showed higher values of initial growth power and final grain weight and longer linear increase phase, compared with respective control. These values suggest that the higher initial increasing rate and the longer active growth period during grain filling play important roles to increase buckwheat yield. Similar patterns of starch, amylose and amylopectin accumulation were detected in common buckwheat, leading to similar concentration of each constituent at maturity in FT1 and TLBDXL. Tartary buckwheat showed an increasing accumulation pattern of amylose in developing seeds, which differed from that of starch and amylopectin. This pattern led to a significant difference of the concentrations of amylose and amylopectin at maturity between JQ2 and CQ2, the mechanisms of which remained unclear. Nevertheless, both FT1 and JQ2 showed increased starch, amylose, and amylopectin accumulation during the physiological maturity of grains. The results suggest that prolonging the active grain-filling period to increase carbohydrate partitioning from source to seed sink can be an effective strategy to improve buckwheat yield.

Effects of nitrogen fertilizer applications on the early senescence and grain filling characteristics of Tartary buckwheat

“…Dried grains were weighed to calculate the average dry weight of 100 grains. In accordance with the studies of Liang et al [17] and Wang et al [18], Richards' equation was used to describe the grainfilling process:…”

Characteristics of Carbohydrate Metabolism, Grain Quality and Yield Provide Insights into Rice-Tartary Buckwheat Improvement

“…The high-yield breeding work of Tartary buckwheat has been focused in China only for a few years [21]. The thick shell Tartary buckwheat 'JQ2' has been proved as a high yield cultivar for planting in Guizhou Province [16]. In this study, the thin shell rice-Tartary buckwheat 'XMQ' showed significant lower yield than JQ2 in two test years.…”

“…A 100 mg of sample was eluted to remove soluble sugars for three times using 2 mL of 95% ethanol for assay of starch. The details for amylose and amylopectin measurement were performed according to the methods of Liang [16]. Starch content was calculated by amylose content plus amylopectin content.…”

“…Tartary buckwheat is typically planted in cold highland area of Southwest China. The cultivated area is progressively decreased during the last 30 years due to the low yield character [16,20]. The high-yield breeding work of Tartary buckwheat has been focused in China only for a few years [21].…”

Effects of tillage methods on senescence and grain filling characteristics of Tartary buckwheat

“…A 1000-grain weight was determined from 10 plants randomly sampled from each plot (thrice the average replicate, with a relative error of <0.5 g for each replicate). Based on the studies of Liang et al (2016) and Wang etal. (2017), Richards' equation was used to describe the grain filling:…”