Response of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) to terminal drought: leaf stomatal conductance, pod abscisic acid concentration, and seed set.
Flower and pod production and seed set of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) are sensitive to drought stress. A 2-fold range in seed yield was found among a large number of chickpea genotypes grown at three dryland field sites in south-western Australia. Leaf water potential, photosynthetic characteristics, and reproductive development of two chickpea genotypes with contrasting yields in the field were compared when subjected to terminal drought in 106kg containers of soil in a glasshouse. The terminal drought imposed from early podding reduced biomass, reproductive growth, harvest index, and seed yield of both genotypes. Terminal drought at least doubled the percentage of flower abortion, pod abscission, and number of empty pods. Pollen viability and germination decreased when the fraction of transpirable soil water (FTSW) decreased below 0.18 (82% of the plant-available soil water had been transpired); however, at least one pollen tube in each flower reached the ovary. The young pods which developed from flowers produced when the FTSW was 0.50 had viable embryos, but contained higher abscisic acid (ABA) concentrations than those of the well-watered plants; all pods ultimately aborted in the drought treatment. Cessation of seed set at the same soil water content at which stomata began to close and ABA increased strongly suggested a role for ABA signalling in the failure to set seed either directly through abscission of developing pods or seeds or indirectly through the reduction of photosynthesis and assimilate supply to the seeds.
School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, M084, LB 5005 Perth, WA 6001, Australia.|The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, M082, LB 5005 Perth, WA 6001, Australia.
Jiayin
J
Pang
The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, M082, LB 5005 Perth, WA 6001, Australia.
Neil C
NC
Turner
The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, M082, LB 5005 Perth, WA 6001, Australia.
Tanveer
T
Khan
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agroecosystems, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China.
Yan-Lei
YL
Du
State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agroecosystems, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China.
Jun-Lan
JL
Xiong
School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, M084, LB 5005 Perth, WA 6001, Australia.|The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, M082, LB 5005 Perth, WA 6001, Australia.
Timothy D
TD
Colmer
CSIRO Agriculture, Black Mountain Laboratories, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
Rosangela
R
Devilla
The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, M082, LB 5005 Perth, WA 6001, Australia.
Katia
K
Stefanova
The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, M082, LB 5005 Perth, WA 6001, Australia.
Kadambot H M
KHM
Siddique
D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D029863:Cicer / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D055864:Droughts; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D054046:Plant Stomata / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D014904:Western Australia
D000040:Abscisic Acid
Abscisic acid; flower abortion; fraction of transpirable soil water; photosynthesis; pod abortion; pollen viability and germination; seed filling; water deficit.