TY - JOUR

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

AU - Brewster, Clare

AU - Stevens, Carly

AU - McAinsh, Martin

PY - 2018/8/19

Y1 - 2018/8/19

N2 - The wild relatives of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) are valued by plantbreeders for their genetic diversity. However, increasing levels of nitrogen(N) deposition and ground-level ozone (O3) threaten plant biodiversity inthe Mediterranean and Near-East, a hotspot for many crop wild relatives.Knowledge of the effect of these air pollutants in combination is still limited, butearly indications are that effects vary depending on the level of pollutants, andon the sensitivity of the species to N and O3. This study examined the responsesof 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−1ammonium 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 exacerbatedby the addition of N, while A. speltoides was found to be nitrophilous, withN 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 theirbeneficial traits by wheat breeders, and alert them to the inadvertent inclusionof N and O3 sensitivity.

AB - The wild relatives of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) are valued by plantbreeders for their genetic diversity. However, increasing levels of nitrogen(N) deposition and ground-level ozone (O3) threaten plant biodiversity inthe Mediterranean and Near-East, a hotspot for many crop wild relatives.Knowledge of the effect of these air pollutants in combination is still limited, butearly indications are that effects vary depending on the level of pollutants, andon the sensitivity of the species to N and O3. This study examined the responsesof 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−1ammonium 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 exacerbatedby the addition of N, while A. speltoides was found to be nitrophilous, withN 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 theirbeneficial traits by wheat breeders, and alert them to the inadvertent inclusionof N and O3 sensitivity.

U2 - 10.1111/aab.12450

DO - 10.1111/aab.12450

M3 - Article

VL - 173

SP - 154

EP - 163

JO - Annals of Applied Biology

JF - Annals of Applied Biology

SN - 0003-4746

IS - 2

ER -