Coping with cold: Sorghum cold stress from germination to maturity

Casto, Anna L.; Murphy, Katie; Gehan, Malia

doi:10.1002/csc2.20609

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Chilling stresses early in the growing season have been shown to affect metabolism and photosynthesis, including thylakoid electron transport, carbon assimilation, and stomatal control (Abbas, 2012; Bekele et al, 2014; Casto et al, 2021). Cold soil temperatures reduce root growth by reducing the availability of sugars and root development by initiating second and third-order laterals and inhibition of root elongation (Kaspar and Bland, 1992; Nagel et al, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting to heat stress by sowing summer grain crops early in late winter: Sorghum root growth, water use, and yield

Zhao,

deVoil,

Rognoni

et al. 2023

Preprint

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CONTEXTDrought and extreme heat at flowering are common stresses limiting the yield of summer crops, which are likely to intensify and become more frequent as projected under climate change.OBJECTIVEThis study explores the idea that adaptation to these stresses could be increased by sowing summer crops early in late winter or spring, to avoid the overlap with critical crop stages around flowering. Here we report on the impacts of early sowing i.e., in late winter and spring on sorghum crop and root growth and function (i.e., water use), and final grain yield.METHODSTwo seasons of on-farm genotype (G) by environment (E) by management (M) sorghum experimentation were conducted in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. Each trial consisted of a factorial combination of three times of sowing (TOS, referred to as late winter, spring, and summer), two levels of irrigation, four plant populations, and six commercial genotypes. Treatments were replicated three times. Crop roots and shoot were sampled at the flag leaf stage for each TOS. Crop water use across the growing season was monitored using time-lapse electromagnetic induction (EMI) surveys. EMI was also used to calculate a root activity factor. Final grain yield and yield components were determined at maturity.RESULTSResults showed that TOS, irrigation levels, and their interactions significantly influenced crop root and shoot traits, water use, and yield, though results were not always consistent across seasons. In the first season which was dry and had large temperature contrasts between TOS, crop growth in the early sown crops was primarily limited by temperature. In contrast, the second season was much warmer and crop growth was instead primarily limited by water availability. Cold air and soil temperatures in the early sowing dates i.e., late winter and spring during the first season, lead to smaller crops with smaller rooting systems and root-to-shoot ratios, and roots having a larger average root diameter. In general terms, root length and root length density responded positively to increasing pre-flowering mean air temperatures ranging between 16 and 20°C, while root average diameters were larger below 19 °C or above 21°C. Early sowing advanced flowering and therefore decreased the risk of extreme heat during the critical stages around flowering and affected water use before and after flowering. The root activity factor was directly related to the crop root length density. The early sown crops increased yield by transferring water use from vegetative to reproductive stages. The larger yield of the early sown crop was associated with larger grain numbers, particularly for the tillers, and a larger water use efficiency. As expected, irrigated and summer-sown crops exhibited lowest water use efficiency. The early-sown crops left more water in the soil profile at maturity, particularly under irrigated conditions and with small plant populations.CONCLUSIONSWe conclude that early sown sorghum is a potential option to increase crop adaptation to hotter and drier environments. Here we propose that in the race to increase crop adaptation to heat stresses, plant breeding efforts should consider cold tolerance traits during crop germination, emergence, and early vegetative stages so that sorghum sowing windows could be significantly advanced.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting to heat stress by sowing summer grain crops early in late winter: Sorghum root growth, water use, and yield

Zhao,

deVoil,

Rognoni

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…In general, cold soil temperatures are known to limit root growth and branching by reducing the availability of sugars to the roots (Kaspar and Bland, 1992;Nagel et al, 2009), and increase the mean diameter of roots (Miyasaka and Grunes, 1990;Farooq et al, 2009;Hassan et al, 2021;Zhou et al, 2021). In sorghum, known effects of cold soil temperatures and chilling stresses early in the season include impaired metabolism and photosynthesis, carbon assimilation, and stomatal control (Abbas, 2012;Bekele et al, 2014;Casto et al, 2021). Low temperatures in the root meristems can also be expected to affect the production of growth substances, and or reduce the uptake of diffusion of nutrients such as potassium and phosphorus (Koevoets et al, 2016;Zhou et al, 2022).…”

Section: Root Growth and Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sowing summer grain crops early in late winter or spring: Effects on root growth, water use, and yield

Zhao,

deVoil,

Rognoni

et al. 2023

Preprint

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CONTEXT. Drought and extreme heat at flowering are common stresses limiting the yield of summer crops. Adaptation to these stresses could be increased by sowing summer crops early in late winter or spring, to avoid the overlap with critical crop stages around flowering. Though little is known about the effects of cold weather on root growth, water use and final grain yield in sorghum. OBJECTIVE. To research the effects of cold conditions in early sowing sorghum on crop and root growth and function (i.e., water use), and final grain yield. METHODS. Two years of field experiments were conducted in the Darling and Eastern Downs region of Qld, Australia. Each trial consisted of three times of sowing (late winter, spring, and summer), two levels of irrigation (i.e., rainfed and supplementary irrigated), four plant population densities (3, 6, 9 and 12 pl m-2), and six commercial sorghum hybrids. Roots and shoots were sampled at the flag leaf stage on three times of sowing, two levels of irrigation, and three replications, for a single hybrid and a single plant population density (9pl m-2). Crop water use and functional root traits were derived from consecutive electromagnetic induction (EMI) surveys around flowering. At maturity crop biomass, yield and yield components were determined across all treatments. RESULTS. The combinations of seasons, times of sowing and levels of irrigation created large variations in growth conditions that affected the growth and production of the crops. Early sowing increased yield by transferring water use from vegetative to reproductive stages increasing water use efficiency (kg mm-1 available water). The larger yields in the early and spring sown crops were associated to larger grain numbers, particularly in tillers. Cold temperatures in the early sowing times tended to produce smaller crops with smaller rooting systems, smaller root-to-shoot ratios, and larger average root diameters. Total root length and root length density increased with increasing pre-flowering mean air temperatures up to 20°C. Linear relationships were observed between an EMI derived index of root activity and the empirically determined values of root length density (cm cm-3) at flowering. CONCLUSIONS. Sowing sorghum, a summer crop, early in late winter or spring transferred water use from vegetative stages to flowering and post-flowering stages increasing crop water use efficiency. The higher grain numbers in early sown crops were related to higher grain numbers in tillers. Root length and root length density were reduced by pre-flowering mean temperatures lower than 20°C, indicating a need to increase cold tolerance for early sowing. The EMI derived index of root activity has potential in the development of high throughput root phenotyping applications.

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“…Several studies have shown that germinating seeds, particularly of tropical crops such as cotton [ 5 ], maize [ 6 ], sorghum [ 7 ] and rice [ 8 ], are highly sensitive to cold stress [ 9 ]. Imbibition of cold water induces excessive leakage of solutes, including amino acids and proteins that are conducive to pathogenic spore germination on seeds [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cell Membrane Features as Potential Breeding Targets to Improve Cold Germination Ability of Seeds

Dhaliwal

Angeles‐Shim

2022

Plants

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Cold stress breeding that focuses on the improvement of chilling tolerance at the germination stage is constrained by the complexities of the trait which involves integrated cellular, biochemical, hormonal and molecular responses. Biological membrane serves as the first line of plant defense under stress. Membranes receive cold stress signals and transduce them into intracellular responses. Low temperature stress, in particular, primarily and effectively affects the structure, composition and properties of cell membranes, which ultimately disturbs cellular homeostasis. Under cold stress, maintenance of membrane integrity through the alteration of membrane lipid composition is of prime importance to cope with the stress. This review describes the critical role of cell membranes in cold stress responses as well as the physiological and biochemical manifestations of cold stress in plants. The potential of cell membrane properties as breeding targets in developing strategies to improve cold germination ability is discussed using cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) as a model.

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Coping with cold: Sorghum cold stress from germination to maturity

Cited by 7 publications

References 92 publications

Adapting to heat stress by sowing summer grain crops early in late winter: Sorghum root growth, water use, and yield

Adapting to heat stress by sowing summer grain crops early in late winter: Sorghum root growth, water use, and yield

Sowing summer grain crops early in late winter or spring: Effects on root growth, water use, and yield

Cell Membrane Features as Potential Breeding Targets to Improve Cold Germination Ability of Seeds

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