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a Agric. & Agri-Food Canada, Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Res. Ctr. (ECORC), Central Exp. Farm, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0C6
morrisonmj{at}em.agr.ca
Received for publication October 1, 1998.
| ABSTRACT |
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Abbreviations: MG, maturity group CAP, canopy apparent photosynthesis NAR, net assimilation rate LAI, leaf area index LAR, leaf area ratio SLA, specific leaf area HI, harvest index, TDW, total dry weight
| INTRODUCTION |
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Ojima (1972) selected single F2 plants with high photosynthetic rates that maintained this rate in the F3 generation. Wiebold et al. (1981) had poor success when selecting for high photosynthetic rate among early-generation progeny from a cross of adapted soybean cultivars. Secor et al. (1982) found that, although leaf chlorophyll content and total soluble leaf protein were correlated with total photosynthesis, the correlation coefficients seemed too low to be of practical value as selection criteria. They concluded that effective selection for leaf photosynthesis can succeed within a soybean population, but only when it is measured directly.
Few studies have examined physiological changes in soybean cultivars across a prolonged period of breeding and selection. Buttery and Buzzell (1972), using cultivars bred and released over a 30-year period, concluded that selection for yield and other agronomic characteristics had resulted in plants with lower leaf area but higher photosynthetic efficiency. Larson et al. (1981) deliberately selected seven cultivars spanning five decades, but found no distinct relationship between leaf photosynthetic rates and yield. Previously, we examined 41 short-season [maturity groups (MG) 0, 00, and 000] cultivars ranging in release date from 1934 to 1992 and found that seed yield improved by 0.5% per year across that period (Voldeng et al., 1997). There was some indication that yield improvement was correlated with lodging resistance, but we found no other mechanisms to account for the improvement in yield. These historic cultivars provide a unique opportunity to determine the progress of plant breeding and the physiological changes made to the crop over decades of selection within a specific climatic region. Accordingly, our objective was to examine a subsample of 14 cultivars representing seven decades of soybean cultivar development, to determine physiological changes associated with yield improvement.
| Materials and methods |
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Leaf area and component dry weight were calculated on a square meter basis and used to determine leaf area index (LAI, unitless: leaf area/ground area), leaf area ratio (LAR, cm2 g-1: leaf area/total plant dry weight), specific leaf area (SLA, cm2 g-1: leaf area/leaf dry weight), and net assimilation rate [NAR, g m-2 d-1: (total plant dry weight/leaf area)/number of days in sampling period], according to the concepts and formulae of growth analysis described by Hunt (1982)(p. 1446). Growth analysis parameters were calculated during the period of maximum leaf area (R4R6), which corresponded to the fourth, fifth, and sixth date of sampling in each year.
A portable photosynthesis system (Li-Cor Model 6200) was used to measure leaf photosynthetic rate (µmol m-2 s-1) and stomatal conductance (cm s-1) per area. The penultimate fully expanded leaf was monitored at the V5, R1, and R4 stages of development in each year of the experiment. Measurements were done close to solar noon and on days with full sunlight.
Combined leaf chlorophyll a and b levels were determined from dried growth analysis samples representing the R1 and R4 stage from 1994 and 1996. Chlorophyll was extracted and measured using the method of Porra et al. (1989). Briefly: dried leaves from the entire plant sample were ground to a powder that could pass through a 40-mesh sieve. A homogeneous subsample of 20 mg was removed and placed in 8 mL of chilled methanol for 30 min. After 10 min of centrifuging at 861 g, a 2-mL aliquot of the supernatant was removed and the absorption at 652 and 665 nm was read using a spectrophotometer. The spectrophotometer was set to zero at 750 nm for each sample. The results were used with the formula of Porra et al. (1989): Chl a + b (nmol mL-1) = 24.23 (652 nm) + 3.26 (665 nm). Chlorophyll measurements were combined for data analysis.
The final sample, collected at maturity (R8), was used to calculate the harvest index (seed yield/total aboveground biological yield). Because leaves senesce and fall to the ground during seed development, leaf dry weight from the sixth growth analysis (R5 to R6) was added to the total biomass dry weight at maturity. This method, although more labor-intensive, provides a more accurate representation of the ratio of vegetative to economic yield than current methods of determining an apparent harvest index, which exclude leaf dry weight. After trimming 0.5 m from either end, four rows were combine-harvested, and the seed was cleaned, weighed, and adjusted to 70 g kg-1 moisture content. To facilitate analysis and presentation, data were combined across growth stages and years and a split-plot analysis of variance done, using year as the main effect and cultivar as the split effect. Means of each characteristic examined were plotted against the cultivar year of release to observe changes in plant characteristics with time. Regression coefficients were examined for significance using n - 2 degrees of freedom. Simple correlation among measured traits were computed to establish relationships.
| Results |
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| Discussion |
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Our data revealed a positive correlation between photosynthetic rate and seed yield. It appears that, by selecting for higher yield, Canadian plant breeders have also selected for higher photosynthetic rate. In an earlier Canadian experiment, Buttery and Buzzell (1972) examined 21 soybean lines developed across 30 years of breeding and concluded that, over time, cultivars had been selected for smaller leaf area and higher NAR. We showed no significant increase in NAR with year of release, and our values were two- to threefold less than those calculated by Buttery and Buzzell (1972). The differences in magnitude likely arose from the different densities at which the plants were sown in the two experiments. We planted in rows at 50 plants m-2; they used hill plots at 1.2 plants m-2. Further work by Buttery et al. (1981) showed a significant correlation between leaf photosynthetic rates during seed filling and soybean yield. In Japan, Ojima (1972) reported that breeding and selection for higher soybean yield resulted in cultivars with greater leaf photosynthetic rate. In the United States, research has shown cultivar differences for photosynthetic rate in soybean (Dornhoff and Shibles, 1970) and a positive correlation between CAP and yield (Wells et al., 1982). Wiebold et al. (1981) concluded that early-generation selection for CO2 exchange rate in soybean was ineffective, but Ford et al. (1983) found differences in photosynthetic rates in 20 lines after seven generations of selection for the trait (although there was no significant effect on yield or harvest index). Ashley and Boerma (1989) found a positive correlation between CAP during seed fill and yield from F3derived lines from two crosses.
Genotypic differences in net photosynthetic rates may be due to direct changes in the photochemical process, changes in resistance to CO2 diffusion, or structural changes such as reduced leaf area or increased sink demand. There is also the possibility that cultivars with greater photosynthetic rate may have better photoassimilate storage and translocation mechanisms (Buttery et al., 1981). In our experiment, increased photosynthesis was correlated with thicker leaves, lower leaf area index and higher stomatal conductance. Previous research has shown a negative correlation between leaf area and photosynthetic rate (Buttery and Buzzell, 1972; Hesketh et al., 1981; Bhagsari and Brown, 1986). Similarly, workers have found that increased leaf thickness correlated with increased photosynthetic rate (Dornhoff and Shibles, 1970; Buttery and Buzzell, 1972).
The higher photosynthetic rates per area found in the newer cultivars are probably the result of reduced leaf area and increased sink demand. Perhaps in response to narrower row widths and higher population density, breeders have selected cultivars with a lower leaf area. The smaller leaf area is more photosynthetically efficient, as evidenced by the lack of change in NAR with year of release. Wells (1991) showed that after canopy closure there was greater shading of the lower leaves than those at the top of the canopy, with subsequent lower CAP rates. The majority of the solar radiation was absorbed by the upper portion of the canopy, with only 10 to 20% of the radiation penetrating beyond 2 LAI units from the top. Therefore, with high-density populations, it is more efficient to have a lower leaf area with a higher photosynthetic rate per area.
In our experiment, there was no significant relationship between leaf chlorophyll concentration and year of cultivar release. Increased chlorophyll concentration was not correlated with higher leaf photosynthesis, as would be expected if higher photosynthetic rates were due only to lower leaf area. Photosynthetic efficiency may also have increased to some extent. When we measured leaf greenness with the SPAD-502 meter in an associated experiment (Ma et al., 1995), we found the same lack of relationship between year of release and leaf greenness, although leaf photosynthetic rate was correlated with the SPAD-502 meter reading. Buttery et al. (1981) also found that chlorophyll concentration was correlated with photosynthetic rate and reduced SLA, but not with yield. The lack of correlation between photosynthesis and leaf chlorophyll in our experiment may have been due to the fact that we determined photosynthesis on the penultimate leaf and chlorophyll on the leaves from the entire plant. It may also have been due to the fewer samples used for chlorophyll determination. The relationship between leaf chlorophyll concentration, photosynthetic rate and year of cultivar release warrants further examination.
| Summary |
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| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| NOTES |
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| REFERENCES |
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