PERFORMANCE INDEX DERIVED FROM CHLOROPHYLL A FLUORESCENCE INDUCTION CURVE INDICATES THE SALT INDUCED GRAIN YIELD LOSS IN WHEAT
Z. Sun1, S. Liu2, J. Fan1, Q. Li1, K. Wang1, M. Guo1, G. Zhang1, L. Ren1, G. Zheng1, T. Ma1, H. Pu1, J. Cai3, D. Jiang3, F. Chen1* and Xiangnan Li2*
1Agricultural Research Institute of Xu-huai Region, Lianyungang Academy of Agricultural Science, Yingzhou RD 8, Lianyungang 222000, China; 2Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China; 3National Engineering and Technology Center for Information Agriculture/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology in Southern China, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
*Correspondence Author Email: lixiangnan@iga.ac.cn
ABSTRACT
Soil salinity severely limits plant growth and reduces grain yield in wheat (Triticum aestivum). Forty-three local wheat cultivars and breeding lines were exposed to a salt treatment (by adding 200 mM NaCl solution) for two weeks, and chlorophyll content and chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters, performance index (PI) and maximum quantum yield of PS II (Fv/Fm) were determined just after salt treatment. It was found that salt stress resulted in different reductions in chlorophyll content and chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters among the 43 wheat cultivars and breeding lines. The salt induced decrease in PI and Fv/Fm varied in a large range among 43 wheat cultivars. The grain yield loss induced by salt stress was mainly due to the decrease in grain weight in wheat. It was concluded that PI was a good parameter for screening genotypes with higher grain weight and grain yield under salt stress.
Key words: Chl a fluorescence; Triticum aestivum; salinity; grain yield.
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