Abstract
Wild relatives of wheat have served as a genetic source for economically useful traits. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying such traits may be useful in the genetic transfer and selection processes. Research was undertaken to compare the effects of controlled water stress on photosynthetic parameters in Triticum kotschyi, a drought resistant wild wheat and Triticum aestivum cv. Lakhish, a drought sensitive wheat cultivar. During stress development, the leaf water potential decreased at a slower rate, and the quantum yield of oxygen evolution, measured photoacoustically in vivo, decreased to a smaller extent in the drought resistant wild wheat than in the wheat cultivar. The decrease in quantum yield at water potentials from −0.9 Mpa down to −2.3 Mpa was not accompanied by damage to PS II reaction centers as there was no change in variable fluorescence. Below −2.3 Mpa the fluorescence yield of both species decreased indicating loss of intrinsic efficiency of PS II. The osmotic potential of cell sap was found to decrease at the same rate in both species at high hydration states. Proline accumulated to a much greater extent in the wild wheat as compared to the cultivated wheat as a result of water stress. Drought resistance was also examined in relation to thylakoid membrane fluidity measured by fluorescence polarization. Thylakoid membrane fluidity was fully maintained in the wild wheat, but decreased substantially in the wheat cultivar, at equal tissue water potentials below −1.9 Mpa. One mechanism for maintaining the higher quantum yield of oxygen evolution during severe stress (at water potentials below −1.9 Mpa), may involve the greater stability of thylakoid membrane fluidity in the wild wheat.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- DPH:
-
1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene
- LHC II:
-
light-harvesting chlorophyll-protein a/b complex
- LWP:
-
leaf water potential
- PS I, PS II:
-
Photosystem I, II
- RUBPcase:
-
ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase
References
Avron M (1960) Photophosphorylation by swiss-chard chloroplasts. Biochim Biophys Acta 40: 257–272
Bates LS (1972) Rapid determination of free proline for water stress studies. Plant and Soil 39: 205–207
Bennett J (1984) Chloroplast protein phosphorylation and the regulation of photosynthesis. Physiol Plant 60: 583–590
Blum A and Ebercon A (1976) Genotypic differences in sorghum to drought stress. III. Free proline accumulation and drought resistance. Crop Sci 16: 428–431
Canaani O and Malkin S (1984a) Distribution of light excitation in an intact leaf between the two photosystems of photosynthesis. Changes in absorption cross-sections following state 1-state 2 transitions. Biochim Biophys Acta 766: 513–524
Canaani O and Malkin S (1984b) Physiological adaptation to a newly observed low light intensity state in intact leaves, resulting in extreme imbalance in excitation energy distribution between the two photosystems. Biochim Biophys Acta 766: 525–532
Canaani O, Malkin S and Mauzerall D (1988) Pulsed-photoacoustic detection of flash induced oxygen evolution from intact leaves and its oscillations. Proc Natl Acad Sci 85: 4725–4729
Chapman DJ, De Felice JG and Barber J (1983) Influence of winter and summer growth conditions on leaf membrane lipids of Pisum sativum L. Planta 157: 218–223
Conroy JP, Virgona JM, Smillie RM and Barlow EW (1988) Influence of drought acclimation and CO2 enrichment on osmotic adjustment and chlorophyll a fluorescence of sunflower during drought. Plant Physiol 86: 1108–1115
Davenport DC (1975) Diffusion porometers. In: Measurement of Stomatal Aperture and Diffusive Resistance. Bul. 809, WSU, Col. of Ag. Res. Ctr. p 15
Flower DJ and Ludlow MM (1986) Contribution of osmotic adjustment to the dehydration tolerance of water-stressed pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) millsp.) leaves. Plant Cell Environ 9: 33–40
Haehnel W (1984) On the lateral electron transport between the two light reactions in spinach chloroplasts. In: Sybesma C (ed) Advances in Photosynthesis Research, Vol I, pp 545–548 Nijhoff/Junk, Amsterdam
Havaux M, Canaani O and Malkin S (1986) Photosynthetic responses of leaves to water stress, expressed by photoacoustics and related methods. I. Probing the photoacoustic method as an indicator for water stress in vivo. Plant Physiol 82: 827–833
Havaux M, Canaani O and Malkin S (1987) Photosynthetic responses to water stress. III. Photacoustic responses of attached leaves to slowly developing water deficit. Physiol Plant 70: 503–510
Johnson RC, Nguyen HT and Croy LI (1983) Osmotic adjustment and solute acumulation in two wheat genotypes differing in drought resistance. Crop Sci 24: 957–962
Johnson RC, Mornhinweg DW, Ferris DM and Heitholt JJ (1987) Leaf photosynthesis and conductance of selected Triticum species at different water potentials. Plant Physiol 83: 1014–1017
Kanstad SO, Cahen D and Malkin S (1983) Simultaneous detection of photosynthetic energy storage and oxygen evolution in leaves by photothermal radiometry and photoacoustics. Biochim Biophys Acta 722: 182–189
Kaiser WM (1982) Correlation between changes in photosynthetic activity and changes in total protoplast volume in leaf tissue from hygro-, meso- and xerophytes under osmotic stress. Planta 154: 538–545
Kramer PJ (1983) Drought tolerance and water use efficiency. In: Kramer PJ (ed) Water Relations of Plants, pp 390–415. Academic Press, New York
Matthews MA and Boyer JS (1984) Acclimation of photosynthesis to low leaf water potentials. Plant Physiol 74: 161–166
Mayoral ML, Atsmon D, Shimshi D and Gromet-Elhanan Z (1981) Effect of water stress on enzyme activities in wheat and related species: Carboxylase activity, electron transport and photophosphorylation in isolated chloroplasts. Aust J Plant Physiol 8: 385–393
Mohanty P and Boyer JS (1976) Chloroplast response to low water potentials. IV. Quantum yield is reduced. Plant Physiol 57: 704–709
Morgan JM (1977) Differences in osmoregulation between wheat genotypes. Nature 270: 234–235
Morgan JM (1988) The use of coleoptile responses to water stress to differentiate wheat genotypes for osmoregulation, growth and yield. Ann Bot 62: 193–198
Peterson R (1990) Effects of water vapor pressure deficit on photochemical and fluorescence yields in tobacco leaf tissue. Plant Physiol 92: 608–614
Poulet P, Cahen D and Malkin S (1983) Photoacoustic detection of photosynthetic oxygen evolution from leaves. Quantitative analysis by phase and amplitude measurements. Biochim Biophys Acta 724: 433–446
Quarrie SA (1980) Genotypic differences in leaf water potential abscisic acid and proline concentrations in spring wheat during drought stress. Ann Bot 46: 383–394
Scholander PF, Hammel HT, Bradstreet ED and Hemmingsen EA (1965) Sap pressure in vascular plants. Science 148: 339–346
Shimshi D, Mayoral ML and Atsmon D (1982) Responses to water stress in wheat and related wild species. Crop Sci 22: 123–128
Shinitzky D and Barenholz Y (1978) Fluidity parameters of lipid regions determined by fluorescence polarization. Biochim Biophys Acta 515: 367–394
Singh TN, Paleg LG and Aspinall D (1973) Stress metabolism. I. Nitrogen metabolism and growth in the barley plant during water stress. Aust J Biol Sci 26: 45–56
Stewart GR and Lee JA (1974) The role of proline accumulation in halophytes. Planta 120: 279–289
Turner NC and Begg JE (1981) Plant water relations and adaptation to stress. Plant Soil 58: 97–131
Turner NC and Jones MM (1980) Turgor maintenance by osmotic adjustment: A review and evaluation. In: Turner NC and Kramer PJ (eds) Adaptations of Plants to Water and High Temperature Stress, pp 87–104. John Wiley & Sons, New York
Yakir D, Rudich J and Bravdo B-A (1985) Photoacoustic and fluorescence measurements of the chilling response and their relationship to carbon dioxide uptake in tomato plants. Planta 164: 345–353
Yakir D, Rudich J, Bravdo B-A and Malkin S (1986) Prolonged chilling under moderate light: Effect on photosynthetic activity measured with the photoacoustic method. Plant Cell Environ 9: 581–588
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Benveniste-Levkovitz, P., Canaani, O., Gromet-Elhanan, Z. et al. Characterization of drought resistance in a wild relative of wheat, Triticum kotschyi . Photosynth Res 35, 149–158 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014745
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014745