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Leaf prickle hairs and longitudinal grooves help wheat plants capture air moisture as a water-smart strategy for a changing climate

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Abstract

Main conclusion

The leaf features like trichome density, gradient grooves, and leaf wettability determine the efficiency to capture air moisture for self-irrigation in the wheat plant.

Abstract

Plants in water-scarce environments evolved to capture air moisture for their water needs either directly or indirectly. Structural features like cones, hairs, and grooves assist water capture. The morphology of crops such as wheat can promote self-irrigation under drought. To examine this further, 34 wheat genotypes were characterized for leaf traits in near optimal conditions in the field using a randomized complete block design with 3 replications. An association was found between morphological and physiological traits and yield using simple correlation plots. A core set of nine genotypes was subsequently evaluated for moisture harvesting ability and leaf wettability. Results showed that variation among genotypes exists for fog harvesting ability attributed to structural leaf features. Physiological traits, especially photosynthesis and water use efficiency, were positively associated with yield, negatively correlated with soil moisture at booting, and positively correlated with soil moisture at anthesis. The genotypes with deep to medium leaf grooves and dense hairs on the edges and adaxial surfaces (genotypes 7 and 18) captured the most moisture. This was a function of higher water drop rolling efficiency resulting from lower contact angle hysteresis. These results can be exploited to develop more heat and drought-tolerant crops.

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Data and material availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article and its supplementary information files. Excel files can be provided on demand.

Abbreviations

PH:

Prickle hair

GT:

Groove type

RZ:

Moisture content in the root zone

V:

Moisture content in the vicinity

WUE:

Photosynthetic water use efficiency

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Acknowledgements

The research was financed by the Punjab Agriculture Research board (PARB-958 and PARB-734) and USAID-U.S. Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security.

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Author notes

  1. Sadia Hakeem and Zulfiqar Ali contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan

    Sadia Hakeem, Zulfiqar Ali & Muhammad Abu Bakar Saddique

  2. Department of Agronomy, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan

    Muhammad Habib-ur-Rahman

  3. Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), Crop Science Group, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Muhammad Habib-ur-Rahman

  4. Plant Breeding Institute, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Richard Trethowan

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  1. Sadia Hakeem
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  4. Muhammad Habib-ur-Rahman
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Correspondence to Zulfiqar Ali.

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Hakeem, S., Ali, Z., Saddique, M.A.B. et al. Leaf prickle hairs and longitudinal grooves help wheat plants capture air moisture as a water-smart strategy for a changing climate. Planta 254, 18 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-021-03645-w

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