Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T11:56:28.122Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Growth and water relations of diverse populations of Lolium perenne exposed to drought in field, glasshouse and controlled environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

Md R. Amin  and
H. Thomas
Md R. Amin
Affiliation:
Environmental Biology Department, Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, SY23 3EB, UK
H. Thomas
Affiliation:
Environmental Biology Department, Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, Dyfed, SY23 3EB, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Nineteen populations of Lolium perenne were grown near Aberystwyth as small plots (sown in 1988) in the field, and as pot plants (sown in 1989) in the glasshouse and controlled environment (CE). In the summer of 1989 they were subjected to drought, and then rewatered. Herbage growth and water relations characters were measured. There was significant diversity between populations (narrowsense heritability) for: herbage production and yield stability before, during and after drought; tillering; osmotic potential and adjustment; tissue water content; and membrane stability (MS) following heat shock. There were no such differences in leaf water conductance, MS following desiccation shock, or chlorophyll stability under osmotic stress. The range of expression of characters was very different in the three environments, as was the ranking of populations, emphasising the danger of working in unnatural environments. Correlation analysis revealed no relationships between growth and physiological characters that were consistent across environments. Nevertheless, hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that some populations having a ‘hay-type’ morphology performed well over all three environments, and merit further study.

Type
Crops and Soils
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 126 , Issue 1 , February 1996 , pp. 15 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aguilo, F. & Medrano, H. (1994). Comparative effects of drought on North European and Balearic populations of Lolium perenne. Aspects of Applied Biology 38, Efficiency of water use in crop systems, 131–137.Google Scholar
Becker, W. A. (1975). Manual of Quantitative Genetics. Washington: Students' Book Corporation.Google Scholar
Baker, F. W. G. (Ed.) (1989). Drought Resistance in Cereals. Wallingford: CAB International.Google Scholar
Blum, A. & Ebercon, A. (1981). Cell membrane stability as a measure of drought and heat tolerance in wheat. Crop Science 21, 43–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blum, A. & Sullivan, C. Y. (1986). The comparative drought resistance of landraces of sorghum and millet from dry and humid regions. Annals of Botany 57, 835–846.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunce, J. A. (1977). Leaf elongation in relation to leaf water potential in soybean. Journal of Experimental Botany 28, 156–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gay, A. P. (1983). Transit time diffusion porometer calibration: an analysis taking into account temperature differences and calibration non-linearity. Journal of Experimental Botany 34, 461–469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gay, A. P. (1994). Breeding for leaf water conductance, its heritability, and its effect on water use in Lolium perenne. Aspects of Applied Biology 38, Efficiency of water use in crop systems, 41–46.Google Scholar
Hughes, R., Jones, E. L., Rushton, W. H. & Evans, W. B. (1977). Herbage yields in 1976. Annual Report for 1976, Welsh Plant Breeding Station, Aberystwyth, pp. 39–44.Google Scholar
Lichtenthaler, H. K. & Wellburn, A. R. (1983). Deter-minations of total carotenoids and chlorophylls a and bof leaf extracts in different solvents. Biochemical Society Transactions 11, 591–592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, J. M. (1983). Osmoregulation as a selection criterion for drought tolerance in wheat. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 34, 607–614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, J., Jackson, M. V. & Sparrow, P. E. (1980). The response of perennial ryegrass to fertilizer nitrogen in relation to climate and soil. Technical Report No. 27, GRI, Hurley.Google Scholar
Norris, I. B. & Thomas, H. (1982). The effect of draughting on varieties and ecotypes of Lolium, Dactylis and Festuca. Journal of Applied Ecology 19, 881–889.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, H. (1987). Physiological responses to drought of Lolium perenne L.: measurement of, and genetic variation in, water potential, solute potential, elasticity and cell hydration. Journal of Experimental Botany 38, 115–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, H. (1994). Diversity between and within temperate forage grass species in drought resistance, water use and related physiological responses. Aspects of Applied Biology 38, Efficiency of water use in crop systems, 47–55.Google Scholar
Thomas, H. & Evans, C. (1989). Effects of divergent selection for osmotic adjustment on water relations and growth of plants of Lolium perenne. Annals of Botany 64, 581–587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, H. & Evans, C. (1990). Influence of drought and flowering on growth and water relations of perennial ryegrass populations. Annals of Applied Biology 116, 371–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, H. & Norris, I. B. (1981). Evaluation of drought resistance of grass and clover populations grown in containers. Plant Physiology and Herbage Production (Ed. Wright, C. E.), pp. 217–219. Maidenhead: British Grassland Society.Google Scholar
Watts, W. R. (1974). Leaf extension in Zea mays. III. Field measurements of leaf extension in relation to temperature and leaf water potential. Journal of Experimental Botany 25, 1085–1096.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolf, J. & Van Diepen, C. A. (1991). Effects of Climate Change on Crop Production in the Rhine Basin. Wageningen: Winard Staring Centre.Google Scholar