Int. J. Dev. Biol. 45: S47 - S48 (2001)

Vol 45, Issue S1

Quantification of vascular tissues in the peduncle of durum wheat cultivars improved during the twentieth century

Published: 1 June 2001

E Lopez-Garrido, S Molina-Quiros, PG De la Puerta-Lopez, MD Vidal-Bernabe, LF Garcia-Del-Moral

Univ Granada, Fac Ciencias, Dept Biol Celular, E-18071 Granada, Spain; Univ Granada, Fac Ciencias, Dept Biol Vegetal, E-18071 Granada, Spain

Abstract

The grain yield of wheat has augmented in the last century due mainly to the use of cultivars with increased higher yield capacity. This work analyzes if this genetic gains in yield has been accompanied by similar increases in the size of the vascular system in the stem. Significant differences were obtained for cultivars; and dates of genetic improvement both in the area of the peduncle; area of the vascular tissues; and phloem and metaxylem areas. In spite of the large variations encountered for these characteristics between cultivars, no clear association was encountered between the genetic improvement and the magnitude of the vascular system in the peduncle of the spike, indicating that the amount of phloem in the modern varieties seems to be sufficient to sustain the maximum rate of grain growth. Nevertheless, the existence of a great genotypic variation in the vascular tissues of the peduncle found in this study could permit to improve the phloem transport capacity in durum wheat in the future.