Vadez, V and Choudhary, S and Kholova, J and Hash, C T and Srivastava, R K and Kumar, A A and Prandavada, A and Anjaiah, M (2021) Transpiration efficiency: insights from comparisons of C4 cereal species. Journal of Experimental Botany (TSI), 72 (14). pp. 5221-5234. ISSN 0022-0957
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Abstract
We have previously reported that there is a tight link between high transpiration efficiency (TE; shoot biomass per unit water transpired) and restriction of transpiration under high vapor pressure deficit (VPD). In this study, we examine other factors affecting TE among major C4 cereals, namely species’ differences, soil type, and source–sink relationships. We found that TE in maize (10 genotypes) was higher overall than in pearl millet (10 genotypes), and somewhat higher than in sorghum (16 genotypes). Overall, transpiration efficiency was higher in high-clay than in sandy soil under high VPD, but the effect was species-dependent with maize showing large variations in TE and yield across different soil types whilst pearl millet showed no variation in TE. This suggested that species fitness was specific to soil type. Removal of cobs drastically decreased TE in maize under high VPD, but removal of panicles did not have the same effect in pearl millet, suggesting that source–sink balance also drove variations in TE. We interpret the differences in TE between species as being accounted for by differences in the capacity to restrict transpiration under high VPD, with breeding history possibly having favored the source–sink balance in maize. This suggests that there is also scope to increase TE in pearl millet and sorghum through breeding. With regards to soil conditions, our results indicate that it appears to be critical to consider hydraulic characteristics and the root system together in order to better understand stomatal regulation and restriction of transpiration under high VPD. Finally, our results highlight the importance of sink strength in regulating transpiration/photosynthesis, and hence in influencing TE.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | RP-Dryland Cereals Research Program : Asia |
| CRP: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Aquaporin, breeding, climate change, drought, maize, pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum, rhizosphere, root hydraulics, soil hydraulics, Sorghum bicolor, Zea mays |
| Subjects: | Mandate crops > Sorghum Others > Drought Others > Maize Others > Climate Change |
| Depositing User: | Mr Nagaraju T |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Feb 2025 08:31 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Feb 2025 08:31 |
| URI: | http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/12942 |
| Official URL: | https://academic.oup.com/jxb/article/72/14/5221/62... |
| Projects: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Funders: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Acknowledgement: | This paper is dedicated to the memory of Mukkera Anjaiah, scientific officer at ICRISAT, who played a key role in acquiring high-quality data from lysimeter experiments for many years, including the data in this paper. We are grateful to Corteva AgriScience for making a number of the maize hybrids available for this research. Funding for the experimental work came from the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Cereals (CRP-DC) and from a research grant between Pioneer and ICRISAT. We are also grateful to Rekha Baddam for assistance with the statistical analysis. The paper was written and supported under the Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) ICARUS project (Improve Crops in Arid Regions and future climates) funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR, grant ANR-17-MPGA-0011). |
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