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Factors preventing the performance of oxygen isotope ratios as indicators of grain yield in maize

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Abstract

Main conclusion

This paper provides new insights into source-sink relationships and transpiration processes which will eventually help to interpret δ 18 O as a genotype selection and ecophysiological tool for maize adaptation to drought.

Oxygen isotope composition (δ18O) has been proposed as a phenotyping tool to integrate leaf transpiration in C4 crops, such as maize. Within this context we hypothesize that δ18O in leaves may reflect primarily environmental and genetic variability in evaporative processes, but that this signal may become dampened in transit from source to sink tissues. The aim of this study was to assess the relative importance of transpirative or translocation-related factors affecting δ18O in plant tissues of maize. We performed two water regime experiments, one with two varieties under semi-controlled conditions, and another in the field with 100 genotypes during two consecutive years. The δ18O in organic matter at the leaf base was strongly correlated with the δ18O in stem water, indicating that it could be a good proxy for source water in extensive samplings. Compared to leaves, we observed an 18O depletion in silks and grains, but not in stem-soluble organic matter. We interpret this as evidence of exchange with unenriched water from source to sink, but mainly occurring within sink tissues. Although grain yield (GY) and physiological variables did not show clear intra-trial patterns against δ18O, the only tissues that correlated with GY in the linear regression approach were that of silks, giving an insight of evapotranspirative demand during female flowering and thus of potential maize lines that are better adapted to drought. This finding will eventually help to interpret δ18O as a genotype selection and ecophysiological tool for the adaption of maize and other crops to drought, offering insight into source-sink relationships and transpiration processes.

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Abbreviations

E :

Transpiration

DS:

Drought stress conditions

g s :

Stomatal conductance

GY:

Grain yield

δ18OS :

Oxygen isotope composition in the silks

δ18OG :

Oxygen isotope composition in the mature kernels

δ18OstemOM :

Oxygen isotope composition in the stem-soluble organic matter

δ18OstemW :

Oxygen isotope composition in the stem water (source water)

δ18OLa :

Oxygen isotope composition of the leaf apex

δ18OLb :

Oxygen isotope composition of the leaf base

δ18OLa-Lb :

Enrichment along the leaf lamina

TL :

Leaf temperature

WW:

Well-watered conditions

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the projects Precision phenotyping for improving drought stress tolerant maize in southern Asia and eastern Africa (08.7860.3-001.00) funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We thank Ciro Sánchez and all the staff at the CIMMYT station in Tlaltizapán for their valuable support on the field trials. JPF was supported by the Ramón y Cajal program (RYC-2008-02050) and the Marie Curie Reintegration Grant, SMARTREES (PERG05-GA-2009-246725, FP7, European Union). We also thank Gustavo Slafer and Roxana Savin for providing the pot experiment facilities, and to Ariel Ferrante for his useful advice. We also thank Pilar Sopeña for technical assistance in the lab. Thanks go to Kiko Girbes for designing Fig. 1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unitat de Fisiología Vegetal, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Rut Sánchez-Bragado & José Luis Araus

  2. Chair of Tree Physiology, Institute of Forest Sciences, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

    Ursula Scheerer, Heinz Rennenberg & Juan Pedro Ferrio

  3. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Harare, Zimbabwe

    Jill E. Cairns

  4. Department of Crop and Forest Sciences-AGROTECNIO Center, Universitat de Lleida, Avda. Rovira Roure 191, 25198, Lleida, Spain

    Juan Pedro Ferrio

Authors
  1. Rut Sánchez-Bragado
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  2. José Luis Araus
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  3. Ursula Scheerer
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  4. Jill E. Cairns
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Correspondence to Juan Pedro Ferrio.

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Sánchez-Bragado, R., Araus, J.L., Scheerer, U. et al. Factors preventing the performance of oxygen isotope ratios as indicators of grain yield in maize. Planta 243, 355–368 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-015-2411-4

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