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Genetic improvement combined with seed ethephon priming improved grain yield and drought resistance of wheat exposed to soil water deficit at tillering stage

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Abstract

Knowledge of short-term physiological adaption of wheat to soil water deficit is well understood, but little is known about seed ethephon priming effect on stress memory against drought at the tillering stage of wheat. The 42 leading and modern cultivars released between 1991 and 2012 were subjected to drought (45% Field water-holding capacity), and well-watered (75% Field water-holding capacity) for 3 weeks to evaluate the genetic progress of wheat against drought stress. Seeds of the drought-sensitive cultivar (CM104) primed with ethephon were subjected to soil water deficit and well-watered to uncover ethephon-induced stress responses at organic, cellular, and molecular levels. Soil water deficit (45% FC) occurred at the tillering stage resulted in 3.2 to 67.4% yield loss, and genetic improvement of wheat against drought resulted in the yield loss decreased at a rate of 0.70% per year, which was determined mainly by fertile spike. Seed ethephon priming maintained leaf water under soil water deficit at the tillering stage by improving root volume and dry weight, which maintained leaf water and improved the drought avoidance capability of wheat. Seed ethephon priming decreased leaf malondialdehyde content by regulating root ERF, root to leaf ABA signaling, leaf ROS-scavenging capability, and leaf osmotic regulation, which improved the drought tolerance capability of dryland wheat. Comparative root tips transcriptome analysis revealed that differentially expressed genes and pathways involved in ethylene-induced drought tolerance are associated with carbon metabolism, glutathione metabolism, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. At maturity, seed ethephon priming increased fertile spikes and reduced spikelets abortion, which provided extra 0.3 t ha−1 of grain yield. These results suggested that seed ethephon priming allowed the recall of long-lasting stress defensive memory, increasing fertile spikes and grain yield by both drought avoidance and drought tolerance.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development program (2016YFD0300406), The Fund of Technical Office in Sichuan Province (21YYJC1576), Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the public interest (20150312705), and Crops Breeding Project in Sichuan Province (2016NYZ0051). We thank our lab mates in the field management.

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Author notes

  1. Hongkun Yang and Wenmei Hu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Crop Eco-Physiology & farming system in Southwest China, Department of Agronomy, Sichuan Agriculture University, Chengdu, 611130, Sichuan Province, People’s Republic of China

    Hongkun Yang, Wenmei Hu, Jiarong Zhao, Xiulan Huang, Ting Zheng & Gaoqiong Fan

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  1. Hongkun Yang
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  2. Wenmei Hu
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  3. Jiarong Zhao
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  4. Xiulan Huang
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  5. Ting Zheng
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  6. Gaoqiong Fan
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Correspondence to Gaoqiong Fan.

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Yang, H., Hu, W., Zhao, J. et al. Genetic improvement combined with seed ethephon priming improved grain yield and drought resistance of wheat exposed to soil water deficit at tillering stage. Plant Growth Regul 95, 399–419 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-021-00749-x

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