Comparative effect of salinity on growth, grain yield, water use efficiency, δ(13)C and δ(15)N of landraces and improved durum wheat varieties.
Supplemental irrigation with low-quality water will be paramount in Mediterranean agriculture in the future, where durum wheat is a major crop. Breeding for salinity tolerance may contribute towards improving resilience to irrigation with brackish water. However, identification of appropriate phenotyping traits remains a bottleneck in breeding. A set of 25 genotypes, including 19 landraces and 6 improved varieties most cultivated in Tunisia, were grown in the field and irrigated with brackish water (6, 13 and 18dSm(-1)). Improved genotypes exhibited higher grain yield (GY) and water use efficiency at the crop level (WUEyield or 'water productivity'), shorter days to flowering (DTF), lower N concentration (N) and carbon isotope composition (δ(13)C) in mature kernels and lower nitrogen isotope composition (δ(15)N) in the flag leaf compared with landraces. GY was negatively correlated with DTF and the δ(13)C and N of mature kernels and was positively correlated with the δ(15)N of the flag leaf. Moreover, δ(13)C of mature kernels was negatively correlated with WUEyield. The results highlight the importance of shorter phenology together with photosynthetic resilience to salt-induced water stress (lower δ(13)C) and nitrogen metabolism (higher N and δ(15)N) for assessing genotypic performance to salinity.
National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia, Carthage University, 43 Avenue Charles Nicole, 1082 Tunis, Tunisie.
Zoubeir
Z
Chamekh
National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia, Carthage University, 43 Avenue Charles Nicole, 1082 Tunis, Tunisie.
Sawsen
S
Ayadi
National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia, Carthage University, 43 Avenue Charles Nicole, 1082 Tunis, Tunisie.
Chahine
C
Karmous
National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia, Carthage University, 43 Avenue Charles Nicole, 1082 Tunis, Tunisie.
Youssef
Y
Trifa
National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia, Carthage University, 43 Avenue Charles Nicole, 1082 Tunis, Tunisie.
Hajer
H
Amara
National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia, Carthage University, 43 Avenue Charles Nicole, 1082 Tunis, Tunisie.
Khaoula
K
Boudabbous
Unit of Plant Physiology, Department of Plant Biology, University of Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Salima
S
Yousfi
Unit of Plant Physiology, Department of Plant Biology, University of Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Maria Dolors
MD
Serret
Unit of Plant Physiology, Department of Plant Biology, University of Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: jaraus@ub.edu.
José Luis
JL
Araus
D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D005838:Genotype; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000378:metabolism*; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014908:Triticum / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D060753:Water Quality
D012965:Sodium Chloride; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen
Durum wheat; Grain yield; Salinity; Water use efficiency; δ(13)C; δ(15)N