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GRAIN QUALITY
ATTRIBUTES OF WHEAT LINES HAVING DIFFERENTIAL PHOTOSYNTHETIC
EFFICIENCY UNDER PROLONGED DROUGHT STRESS
FARYAD ALI1, NAEEM IQBAL1*,
MAKHDOOM HUSSAIN2 AND JAVED ANWAR2
Abstract:
Twenty wheat lines were tested for
drought tolerance in terms of relative chemical composition and physical
properties of grains. These wheat lines were selected on the basis of
maintaining their photosynthetic potential under drought stress. There
were two treatments of drought stress, normal irrigation and no
irrigation throughout crop growth period. Exposure of wheat plants to
continuous drought stress (rain fed) led to an increase in total
proteins and gluten contents in grain. Grain zeleny concentration of
water stressed plants was significantly lower than those of normally
irrigated plants. Average grain diameter differed non-significantly but
grain hardness decreased significantly in plants experiencing long term
drought compared with drought untreated ones. A wheat lines had a
differential response to water limited environment in terms of grain
quality attributes and their performance was not dependent on their
photosynthetic potential.
1Plant
Physiology Lab, Department of Botany, GC University, Faisalabad,
Pakistan
2
Wheat Research Institute, AARI, Faisalabad, Pakistan
*Corresponding author E-mail:
naeemgc@yahoo.com; Tel:
00923007979767; Fax: 0092419201419
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