Overwintering of winter cereals in Hungary in the case of global warming

Abstract

Under phytotronic conditions investigations were made on the effect of important environmental factors, such as temperature, water and an increasing concentration of atmospheric C02, on the hardening of young cereal plants .In all the varieties derived from the major wheat growing regions of the world the hardening process was favourably influenced by a doubling of atmospheric CO2 content, so that a significantly larger number of plants survived the frost test than for plants of the same variety raised under normal conditions .A reduction in freezing temperature and an increase in soil moisture content caused a slight reduction in survival % for varieties with excellent frost resistance and a great reduction for those with medium or poor frost resistance .Predictions suggest that in Central Europe, as the result of global climatic changes, there will be a reduction in the quantity of winter precipitation, a considerable rise in winter temperatures and an increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration . Judging by the experimental results, these changes could improve the overwintering of winter cereals ; at the same time, however, a number of factors (mainly the reduction of precipitation) leading to yield losses must be expected during the vegetation period .

Nucleic acid damage and DNA repair are affected by freezing stress in annual wheat (Triticum aestivum) and by plant age and freezing in its perennial relative (Thinopyrum intermedium)

“…While some degree of cold hardening happens at temperatures as high as 10-12°C, for wheat and for other cold-hardy perennial grasses (e.g., Gay and Eagles, 1991), complete acclimation does not occur until temperatures are well below this induction threshold and typically well below 5°C (Fowler, 2008;Ganeshan et al, 2009). In fact, further cold adaptation requires temperatures well below freezing (Herman et al, 2006;Veisz et al, 1996); individual freezing events even after acclimation have been achieved are associated with further short-term transcriptional responses (Skinner, 2009); and maximal cold adaptation may require temperatures as low as −10°C (Skinner, 2014;Skinner and Bellinger, 2017). Photoperiod also has a role in achieving or prolonging cold tolerance in some wheat cultivars (Mahfoozi et al, 2001) but not in others (Limin and Fowler, 2006), and in general appears to be much less important than temperature in inducing cold tolerance.…”