TY - JOUR

T1 - Wheat’s wild relatives vary in their response to nitrogen and ozone

AU - Brewster, Clare

AU - Stevens, Carly Joanne

AU - McAinsh, Martin Robert

N1 - This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Brewster, C. , Stevens, C. and McAinsh, M. (2018), Wheat's wild relatives vary in their response to nitrogen and ozone. Ann Appl Biol, 173: 154-163. doi:10.1111/aab.12450 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aab.12450 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.

PY - 2018/9

Y1 - 2018/9

N2 - The wild relatives of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) are valued by plant breeders for their genetic diversity. However, increasing levels of nitrogen (N) deposition and ground-level ozone (O3) threaten plant biodiversity in the Mediterranean and Near-East, a hotspot for many crop wild relatives. Knowledge of the effect of these air pollutants in combination is still limited, but early indications are that effects vary depending on the level of pollutants, and on the sensitivity of the species to N and O3. This study examined the responses of four important wheat wild relatives (Aegilops tauschii, Aegilops speltoides, Triticum dicoccoides and Triticum monococcum) and one modern wheat cultivar (T. aestivum ‘Cadenza’) to treatments of N (equivalent to 50 kg ha−1 year−1 ammonium nitrate) and O3 (100 ppb for 21 days), alone and in combination. Measurements included root, shoot and seed biomass, and electrolyte ratios. The O3 sensitivity of A. tauschii and T. aestivum ‘Cadenza’ were exacerbated by the addition of N, while A. speltoides was found to be nitrophilous, with N ameliorating the negative effect of O3. Both T. aestivum ‘Cadenza’ and T. dicoccoides produced immature seed heads, with the cultivar’s seed head biomass reduced in response to O3 and N+O3 while that of T. dicoccoides was largely unaffected. These data suggest that all four wild relatives are likely to be affected when N and O3 air pollutants co-occur, and there in situ populations may therefore be at risk. Equally, the results of this study can inform use of their beneficial traits by wheat breeders, and alert them to the inadvertent inclusion of N and O3 sensitivity.

AB - The wild relatives of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) are valued by plant breeders for their genetic diversity. However, increasing levels of nitrogen (N) deposition and ground-level ozone (O3) threaten plant biodiversity in the Mediterranean and Near-East, a hotspot for many crop wild relatives. Knowledge of the effect of these air pollutants in combination is still limited, but early indications are that effects vary depending on the level of pollutants, and on the sensitivity of the species to N and O3. This study examined the responses of four important wheat wild relatives (Aegilops tauschii, Aegilops speltoides, Triticum dicoccoides and Triticum monococcum) and one modern wheat cultivar (T. aestivum ‘Cadenza’) to treatments of N (equivalent to 50 kg ha−1 year−1 ammonium nitrate) and O3 (100 ppb for 21 days), alone and in combination. Measurements included root, shoot and seed biomass, and electrolyte ratios. The O3 sensitivity of A. tauschii and T. aestivum ‘Cadenza’ were exacerbated by the addition of N, while A. speltoides was found to be nitrophilous, with N ameliorating the negative effect of O3. Both T. aestivum ‘Cadenza’ and T. dicoccoides produced immature seed heads, with the cultivar’s seed head biomass reduced in response to O3 and N+O3 while that of T. dicoccoides was largely unaffected. These data suggest that all four wild relatives are likely to be affected when N and O3 air pollutants co-occur, and there in situ populations may therefore be at risk. Equally, the results of this study can inform use of their beneficial traits by wheat breeders, and alert them to the inadvertent inclusion of N and O3 sensitivity.

KW - Aegilops speltoides

KW - Aegilops tauschii

KW - air pollution

KW - crop wild relative

KW - Triticum aestivum L.

KW - Aegilops speltoides Aegilops tauschii air pollution crop wild relative Triticum aestivum L. Triticum dicoccoides

U2 - 10.1111/aab.12450

DO - 10.1111/aab.12450

M3 - Journal article

VL - 173

SP - 154

EP - 163

JO - Annals of Applied Biology

JF - Annals of Applied Biology

SN - 0003-4746

ER -