Comparative Study of the Developmental Traits and Yield Components of Bread Wheat under Field Conditions in Several Years of Multi‐Sowing Time Experiments

Abstract

The main aim of the experiments was to demonstrate the possible correlation between developmental and morphological traits and yield components under variable climatic conditions. For this purpose, a collection of 188 wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes with a heterogeneous gene pool was included in a 3‐yr field experiment applying normal and late sowing dates each year. Under these conditions, almost all the traits were significantly influenced by the genotype, which had the greatest effect on the morphological traits and yield components (explaining 20–58 and 50–60% of the phenotypic variance for the two trait groups, respectively). In the case of plant development, however, the year effect, particularly in the late sowing treatment, was more significant than that of the genotype. Sowing date had the strongest effect on the early developmental phases, explaining 50% of the phenotypic variance, whereas the year had a significant influence on the late developmental phases, being responsible for 37 to 53% of the phenotypic variance. The turning point between the two factors was during the first phase of rapid stem elongation. The environmental driven variation in developmental patterns led to significant variation in yield‐related traits, which ranged from 4.6 (average thousand‐kernel weight) to 16.3% (average seed number) with normal sowing, and from 2.9 (average seed weight) to 29.4% (average thousand‐kernel weight) under late sowing conditions. The significance of the two intervals, from sowing to the start of rapid (intensive) stem elongation and from the start of stem elongation to the boot stage (Z49), was most apparent in the case of yield‐related traits.

Heat stress responses in a large set of winter wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.) depend on the timing and duration of stress

“…This type of systematic research is not possible to conduct under field conditions because the timing, the duration of heat or the sole stress factor can be easily controlled. This same set of wheat cultivars is a component of a long-term research programme in which the associations between plant development and yield components are planned for study under field-sown conditions for a longer time period with consideration of the various climatic factors (the results of the first three-year range have recently been published by Kiss et al [60]). Thus, the heat stress sensitivity indices of the cultivars established in controlled conditions can later be included in temporal analyses.…”

Effects of genetic components of plant development on yield-related traits in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under stress-free conditions

“…A total of 188 winter and facultative wheat accessions from various geographic locations were used for this GWA study. Information on the cultivars and their origins has been published by Kiss et al (2019), and it is available for further requests. They were selected from an initial wheat population consisting of 683 wheat genotypes from the GeneBank collection of the ELKH ATK MGI (Agricultural Institute, Centre of Agriculture, Eötvös Lorańd Research Network, Martonvaśaŕ, Hungary), which had been previously examined for heading date characteristics and allele types in the major plant developmental genes (Kiss et al, 2014).…”

“…Two rows of each genotype were sown in a 0.4 × 2 m plot with the distance of 20 cm. The specifics of the experimental set-up, the plant management, and the meteorological characteristics of the three growing seasons are published by Kiss et al (2019). Various developmental, morphological, and yield-related traits were measured and analyzed in details and published in Kiss et al (2019), including two-way ANOVAs.…”

“…The specifics of the experimental set-up, the plant management, and the meteorological characteristics of the three growing seasons are published by Kiss et al (2019). Various developmental, morphological, and yield-related traits were measured and analyzed in details and published in Kiss et al (2019), including two-way ANOVAs. Genome-wide association studies (GWA) were conducted for several traits within each group.…”

“…More information on the calculation of effective thermal time is published in Bogard et al (2015). At full maturity, six plants per plot were harvested to establish various morphological and grain-yield related parameters (Kiss et al, 2019). From the group of morphological traits, plant height from soil to the base of the main spike (PH), length of the last internode (LIN), length of the main spike (EaL), number of spikelets per main spike (SPIK), and the rate of the intensive stem elongation (ETT/cm; SG) were included in the GWA.…”