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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Water Management and Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #372752
Research Project: Improving the Sustainability of Irrigated Farming Systems in Semi-Arid Regions

Location: Water Management and Systems Research

Title: Growth and grain yield of eight maize hybrids are aligned with water transport, stomatal conductance, and photosynthesis in a semi-arid irrigated system

Author
item Gleason, Sean
item Nalezny, Lauren
item Hunter, Cameron
item Comas, Louise
item BENSEN, ROBERT - Syngenta Biotech, Inc
item CHINTAMANANI, SATYA - Syngenta Seeds, Inc

Submitted to: Physiologia Plantarum
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/19/2021
Publication Date: 3/22/2021
Citation: Gleason, S.M., Nalezny, L.A., Hunter, C., Comas, L.H., Bensen, R., Chintamanani, S. 2021. Growth and grain yield of eight maize hybrids are aligned with water transport, stomatal conductance, and photosynthesis in a semi-arid irrigated system. Physiologia Plantarum. 172(4):1941-1949. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.13400.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.13400

Interpretive Summary: One of the most important challenges facing agriculture is the development of drought tolerant genotypes. Key to this challenge is understanding what plant traits confer improved performance under different management and climate scenarios. We present here a single-year maize experiment, where we measured water transport and photosynthesis in an effort to understand how the processes controlling water and photosynthesis relate to growth and grain production. Our key findings are largely aligned with a subset of previous studies on maize, as well as other species: 1) that the efficient extraction of water from the soil may be more important than the efficiency with which that water is used during photosynthesis, 2) that the water transport pathway between the soil and leaf represents an physiological “Achilles heel” that breaks down under water stress, and 3) growth and photosynthesis are directly impacted by this loss of water transport.

Technical Abstract: We present a single-year maize experiment, where we measured key components of physiological functioning (operating xylem water potential, leaf hydraulic conductance, leaf osmotic potential, net CO2 assimilation, and their linkages) in an effort to understand how the processes controlling water and carbon flux relate to growth and grain production under drought stress in hybrid maize. Our key findings are largely aligned with a subset of previous studies on maize, as well as other species: 1) that water extraction efficiency may be more important than transpiration efficiency in some cases, 2) that the water transport pathway between the soil and leaf (xylem and extra-xylary conductances) represents an physiological “Achilles heel” that breaks down under water stress, and 3) growth and photosynthesis are directly impacted by this loss of hydraulic conductance.