Summary
An improved method to screen wheat seedlings for drought tolerance using polyethylene glycol-8000 (PEG) was developed. Plants were started in nutrient solution and transferred to PEG after stable growth was achieved. Plants were held in a plexiglass framework that allowed the repeated weighing of a single holder with plants from a single genotype. The same set of plants was used to plot a fresh weight growth curve through the entire experiment. This procedure has allowed us to screen larger numbers of genotypes than otherwise would be possible.
The response curve of genotypes differed in reaction to PEG treatments, allowing us to rank genotypes by tolerance to PEG-induced stress. Results may be influenced by environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, and light intensity. Low relative humidity or high temperature reduced the amount of fresh weight, bringing the growth curves closer to horizontal. Tests across a range of environmental conditions produced different growth curves among genotypes, but the ranking of the genotypes remained constant. The method is a simple procedure to screen for tolerance to drought stress during the vegetative period. One locally adapted, high yielding spring wheat line was found to perform as well as the low yielding drought tolerant standard.
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© 1987 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht/Boston/Lancaster
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Andersen, T.M., Polle, E., Konzak, C.F. (1987). Screening spring wheat for drought tolerance. In: Gabelman, W.H., Loughman, B.C. (eds) Genetic Aspects of Plant Mineral Nutrition. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3581-5_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3581-5_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8102-3
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