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A stability analysis of time to flowering as a screen for responsiveness to temperature and photoperiod in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)

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Summary

Twenty-one genotypes of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), comprising landraces and varieties, were grown in 22 photothermal environments in Nigeria and Niger, West Africa, and a stability analysis of days from sowing to flowering (f) was carried out. Cowpeas are rarely insensitive to photoperiod; they are typically quantitative shortday plants wherein f is delayed when photoperiod (P) is longer than the critical photoperiod (P c ). Therefore, in order to quantify genotypic variation in temperature sensitivity, genotype f was regressed against the mean trial f in circumstances where P<P c (i.e. approximately ≤ 13 hd-1) and mean temperature (T) was between 19° and 28° C. Correspondingly, in order to assess genotypic variation in photoperiod sensitivity, trials where T was near optimal (25°–28° C) but where P ranged from 10–14.5 hd-1 were used. These stability analyses detected no significant differences (P>0.05) between genotypes 9n temperature sensitivity but revealed significant differences (P<0.001) in photoperiod sensitivity. Regression coefficients from the stability analysis were strongly correlated (r=0.94, 19df) with a photoperiod sensitivity constant, c′, determined from a photothermal flowering model. A stability analysis of f from field trials can therefore identify and quantify genotypic variation in response to temperature and photoperiod in cowpea.

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Abbreviations

f :

days from sowing to flowering

P:

mean photoperiod

P c :

critical photoperiod

P ce :

ceiling photoperiod

T:

mean temperature

T b :

base temperature

T o :

optimum temperature

SDP:

short-day plant

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kano Station, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Sabo Bakin Zuwo Road, PMB 3112, Kano, Nigeria

    P. Q. Craufurd

  2. Department of Agriculture, Plant Environment Laboratory, The University of Reading, Cutbush Lane, Shinfield, RG2 9AD, Reading, UK

    E. H. Roberts, R. H. Ellis & R. J. Summerfield

  3. Department of Agriculture, Plant Environment Laboratory, The University of Reading, Cutbush Lane, Shinfield, RG2 9AD, Reading, UK

    P. Q. Craufurd

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  1. P. Q. Craufurd
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  2. E. H. Roberts
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  3. R. H. Ellis
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  4. R. J. Summerfield
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Craufurd, P.Q., Roberts, E.H., Ellis, R.H. et al. A stability analysis of time to flowering as a screen for responsiveness to temperature and photoperiod in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). Euphytica 88, 77–84 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00029268

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00029268

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