Ariel Ferrante

Floret development of durum wheat in response to nitrogen availability

In Mediterranean durum wheat production, nitrogen (N) fertilization may be important to stabilize and increase yields. Wheat yield responses to N fertilization are usually related to grains per m2, which in turn is the consequence of processes related to floret development (floret initiation followed by floret death/survival) during stem elongation. The literature is rather scarce in terms of the relevance of floret developmental dynamics, determining the final number of grains in general terms and in particular regarding responsiveness to N. The aim of this study was to determine whether durum wheat responses to N under different water regimes are related to the dynamics of development of floret primordia to produce fertile florets. During the 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 growing seasons, experiments with a factorial combination of two N levels (0 and 100 or 250 kg N ha−1) and two levels of water availability (rainfed and irrigated) were carried out (although the water regime was only effective in the second season). The response of yield was largely a consequence of that in grain number per spike. Floret initiation was similar for both N levels in each experiment and water regime, for which the survival of a higher proportion of initiated florets was critical in the response of the crop. The diminished rate of floret abortion during the late part of stem elongation in response to N was associated with a slightly accelerated rate of floret development which allowed a higher proportion of the primordia initiated to reach the stage of fertile floret by flowering.

Is floret primordia death triggered by floret development in durum wheat

Survival of floret primordia initiated seems critical for the determination of grain number and yield in wheat, and understanding what determines floret mortality would help in the development of more robust physiological models of yield determination. The growth of the juvenile spikes has been frequently considered the determinant of grain number, implying that floret development would depend on resource availability and that the onset of floret death would be related to spike growth. However, this model has been recently challenged from a study concluding that floret death started when the most advanced floret primordia reached a particular developmental stage. As the few previous studies on this relationship involved photoperiod treatments which affect both floret development and the onset of spike growth, conclusions cannot be considered mechanistic. This comprehensive study analysed in detail floret development in wheat as affected by resource availability (mainly soil nitrogen levels) and found that the onset of floret death may occur when development of the most advanced florets ranged from stages 5 to 9 and that the average and standard deviation of floret developmental stage coinciding with the onset of floret death was not related to the level of availability of resources. These results provide further support to the model relating the onset of floret death with the initiation of active growth of the juvenile spike in which florets are developing.