Climate change effects on bread wheat phenology and grain quality: A case study in the north of Italy

Abstract

Increasing temperatures, heat waves, and reduction of annual precipitation are all the expressions of climate change (CC), strongly affecting bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain yield in Southern Europe. Being temperature the major driving force of plants’ phenological development, these variations also have effects on wheat phenology, with possible consequences on grain quality, and gluten protein accumulation. Here, through a case study in the Bolognese Plain (North of Italy), we assessed the effects of CC in the area, the impacts on bread wheat phenological development, and the consequences on grain gluten quality. The increasing trend in mean annual air temperature in the area since 1952 was significant, with a breakpoint identified in 1989, rising from 12.7 to 14.1°C, accompanied by the signals of increasing aridity, i.e., increase in water table depth. Bread wheat phenological development was compared in two 15-year periods before and after the breakpoint, i.e., 1952–1966 (past period), and 2006–2020 (present period), the latest characterized by aridity and increased temperatures. A significant shortening of the chronological time necessary to reach the main phenological phases was observed for the present period compared to the past period, finally shortening the whole life cycle. This reduction, as well as the higher temperature regime, affected gluten accumulation during the grain-filling process, as emerged analyzing gluten composition in grain samples of the same variety harvested in the area both before and after the breakpoint in temperature. In particular, the proportion of gluten polymers (i.e., gliadins, high and low molecular weight glutenins, and their ratio) showed a strong and significant correlation with cumulative growing degree days (CGDDs) accumulated during the grain filling. Higher CGDD values during the period, typical of CC in Southern Europe, accounting for higher temperature and faster grain filling, correlated with gliadins, high molecular weight glutenins, and their proportion with low molecular weight glutenins. In summary, herein reported, data might contribute to assessing the effects of CC on wheat phenology and quality, representing a tool for both predictive purposes and decision supporting systems for farmers, as well as can guide future breeding choices for varietal innovation.

The potential impacts of climate change on ex situ conservation options for recalcitrant-seeded species

“…Global climate change, in altering environmental cues related to temperature and rainfall, could therefore preclude, delay, or enhance regeneration from seeds (Walck et al, 2011;Sentinella et al, 2020;Pritchard et al, 2022). There is also ample direct evidence to suggest that changes in temperature and rainfall will affect the yield and quality of seeds in orthodox crops (Hatzig et al, 2018;Abdul Rahman and Ellis, 2019;Wijewardana et al, 2019;Ben Mariem et al, 2021;Poggi et al, 2022) and native plant species (Buechling et al, 2016;Delgado-Vargas et al, 2018). More recent evidence suggests that these effects may extend to the regulation of dormancy and germination (Bernareggi et al, 2016;Klupczyńska and Pawłowski, 2021) as well viability retention (Ooi et al, 2009;Ooi, 2012) and seed longevity (White et al, 2022).…”

Identification of Plant and Soil Characteristics Affecting Stability of Winter Wheat Cultivar in Temperate Climates

“…Ongoing climate change and the associated various types of extreme weather phenomena have a negative impact both on yield value and on important grain quality traits [4]. Therefore, in such conditions, it becomes important to search for stable and widely adapted genotypes not only in terms of yield but also other important quality traits [5]. Until now, the common practice was to assess the stability of cereal cultivars for yield alone, neglecting the assessment of other grain quality traits that could be considered important for obtaining a good quality final product, such as bread.…”