Can reduced irrigation mitigate ozone impacts on an ozone-sensitive African wheat variety?

Harmens, Harry; Hayes, Felicity ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1037-5725; Sharps, Katrina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3265-1505; Radbourne, Alan; Mills, Gina. 2019 Can reduced irrigation mitigate ozone impacts on an ozone-sensitive African wheat variety? [in special issue: Ozone tolerance mechanisms] Plants, 8 (7), 220. 17, pp. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8070220

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Abstract/Summary

Ground-level ozone (O3) pollution is known to adversely affect the production ofO3-sensitive crops such as wheat. The magnitude of impact is dependent on the accumulated stomatal flux of O3 into the leaves. In well-irrigated plants, the leaf pores (stomata) tend to be wide open, which stimulates the stomatal flux and therefore the adverse impact of O3 on yield. To test whether reduced irrigation might mitigate O3 impacts on flag leaf photosynthesis and yield parameters, we exposed an O3-sensitive Kenyan wheat variety to peak concentrations of 30 and 80 ppb O3 for four weeks in solardomes and applied three irrigation regimes (well-watered, frequent deficit, and infrequent deficit irrigation) during the flowering and grain filling stage. Reduced irrigation stimulated 1000-grain weight and harvest index by 33% and 13%, respectively (when O3 treatments were pooled), which compensated for the O3-induced reductions observed in well-watered plants. Whilst full irrigation accelerated the O3-induced reduction in photosynthesis by a week, such an effect was not observed for the chlorophyll content index of the flag leaf. Further studies under field conditions are required to test whether reduced irrigation can be applied as a management tool to mitigate adverse impacts of O3 on wheat yield.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8070220
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Soils and Land Use (Science Area 2017-) UKCEH Fellows
ISSN:	2223-7747
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	ozone pollution, irrigation, wheat, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll, crop yield, 1000-grain weight, harvest index
NORA Subject Terms:	Agriculture and Soil Science Atmospheric Sciences Botany
Related URLs:	Project Website Project Website
Date made live:	15 Jul 2019 11:09 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/524291

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