Effects Of Waterlogging, High Temperature And Their Combination After Anthesis On Grain Quality Traits And Yield In Winter Wheat

Waterlogging and high temperature are major meteorological disasters to winterwheat after anthesis in both the middle and lower Yangtze Valley and the south ofHuanghuai wheat production regions, which have great impact on grain yield andquality of winter wheat. Pot experiment was conducted at the Agricultural andExperimental Farm of Henan Agricultural University during the2011—2012and2012—2013growing seasons. The effects of environment-stresses were evaluated onstarch, protein and yield of winter wheat. Two wheat cultivars Zhengmai366andZhengmai004, differing in gluten strength, were treated with waterlogging (WL)and/or high temperature (HT) stress from the5th to14th day after anthesis. The waterlevel was above the soil1-2cm during the waterlogging stress treatment. The hightemperature stress was obtained by covering film during the treatment. During2011-2012growing season, we investigated the effect of waterlogging(WL), Hightemperature(HT) and their combination (WL+HT) on the starch content and pastingproperties. During2012-2013growing season, we investigated the protein content andthe flour Whiteness. The main results were as follows:1. Adverse stresses affect the yield and its compositions in winter wheat.Although the WL had non-significant effect on the yield and its compositions inZhengmai366, it reduced the grain weight per spike,1000-grain weight and yield inZhengmai004by18%,16%and26%, respectively. The post-anthesis HT stresssignificantly decreased the grain number per spike, the grain weight per spike,1000-grain weight and yield in Zhengmai004. However it had non significant impacton grain yield and yield components in Zhengmai366except the1000-grain weight,which was reduced significantly under HT conditions. The combination of WL andHT significantly decreased the yield and its compositions in both wheat cultivarscompared to the CK. We concluded from the test that, the combination of WL and HThad more serious effect on yield and its components in both wheat cultivars than any of the sole stress. And HT had relatively great impact on yield and yield componentsthan that of WL.2. Adverse stress had different influence on starch accumulation and itscompositions in grains. Although slight increases of the concentration of total starchand amylopectin and a decrease of amylose concentration were observed in theexperiment, no significant difference existed in starch compositions and the ratio ofamylose to amylopectin between WL and CK group. HT and WL+HT significantlydecreased the concentration of total starch and amylopectin. In2011-2012year, thetotal starch content of Zhengmai366was reduced by9%and3%, respectively. And inZhengmai004, it was reduced by11%and11%. In2012-2013year, the percentageswere4%and7%in Zhengmai366, respectively. And in Zhengmai004, it wasreduced by8%and5%. From the declined range, it seems than Zhengmai004weremore sensitive to the adversity stress. For sole environmental stress, it seemed thateffect of HT was bigger than that of WL for the starch accumulation.3. WL, HT and WL+HT also influenced the pasting properties of wheat starch.WL significantly decreased the minimum viscosity (MV) and final viscosity (FV) by7%and6%in Zhengmai004, but no significant impact of WL was found on anystarch pasting parameters in Zhengmai366. HT reduced PV, MV, FV, breakdown andPT for both two wheat.The percentages were16%,19%,10%,12%and4%in Zhengmai366, and22%,22%,16%,23%and5%in Zhengmai004. The WL+HT stress significantly reducedthe PV, MV and FV by8%,9%and6%, respectively in Zhengmai366, and by21%,24%, and10%, respectively in Zhengmai004. From the declined range, it seems thanZhengmai004were more sensitive to the adversity stress. For sole environmentalstress, it seemed that effect of HT was bigger than that of WL for the starch pastingproperties, and the WL+HT was not serious than single HT stress.4. WL, HT and WL+HT also influenced the swelling power and falling numberof wheat starch. The WL stress increased the swelling power and falling number inboth wheat cultivars. The swelling power was increased by20%in Zhengmai366and0.9%in Zhengmai004, respectively. The falling number was improved significantlyby16%in Zhengmai366and by18%in Zhengmai004, respectively. The HT andWL+HT stress significantly decreased the swelling power in both wheat cultivars.The reduction percentages were12%and48%in Zhengmai366, and18%and13%inZhengmai004, respectively. However, the falling number was increased under HTand WL+HT stresses. In Zhengmai366, the increase of the falling number was non-significant. In Zhengmai004, it was increased by50%and19%, respectivelyunder HT and WL+HT conditions. It can be seen that, the swelling power of flour wasmore sensitive to HT, but the falling number was more sensitive to WL than HT. Forthese two traits, Zhengmai366was more sensitive to any of the adverse stress thanZhengmai004.5. WL, HT and WL+HT significantly influenced the protein and proteincompositions in wheat grains, and no difference was observed between the twogrowing seasons. In the growing season of2011-2012, WL significantly decreased thecontent of albumin of in both wheat cultivars and the total protein content inZhengmai004. In the growing season of2012-2013, WL decreased the protein and itscompositions in grains of Zhengmai004, except the glutelin. HT significantlyincreased the protein content and protein compositions in both cultivars. However, theeffect of WL+HT on grain protein varied with cultivars. The contents of protein andits compositions in Zhengmai004were significantly increased under WL+HT in bothgrowing seasons, whereas, those in Zhengmai366had no significant changes in2011-2012growing season. and a significant reduction was observed in2012-2013growing season.6. The flour color was obviously affected by any stress in both cultivars. UnderWL, HT, and WL+HT, the flour L-value decreased by0.9%,1.2%, and1.9%,respectively in Zhengmai366, and by0.2%,2.1%, and1.7%, respectively inZhengmai004. However, the a-value was increased by15%,33%, and43%,respectively in Zhengmai366and by0.3%,77%and42%, respectively in Zhengmai004under WL, HT and WL+HT conditions. While the b-value was increased by4%,2%, and11%, respectively in Zhengmai366and by4%,7%and8%, respectively inZhengmai004. Correlation analysis indicated that the total protein and glutelincontent were negatively correlated with L-value, but positively correlated witha-value and b-value of the flour.