Comparison of the Drought Stress Responses of Tolerant and Sensitive Wheat Cultivars During Grain Filling: Changes in Flag Leaf Photosynthetic Activity, ABA Levels, and Grain Yield

Water status parameters, flag leaf photosynthetic activity, abscisic acid (ABA) levels, grain yield, and storage protein contents were investigated in two drought-tolerant (Triticum aestivum L. cv. MV Emese and cv. Plainsman V) and two drought-sensitive (cvs. GK Élet and Cappelle Desprez) wheat genotypes subjected to soil water deficit during grain filling to characterize physiological traits related to yield. The leaf water potential decreased earlier and at a higher rate in the sensitive than in the tolerant cultivars. The net CO₂ assimilation rate (P N) in flag leaves during water deficit did not display a strict correlation with the drought sensitivity of the genotypes. The photosynthetic activity terminated earliest in the tolerant cv. Emese, and the senescence of flag leaves lasted 7 days longer in the sensitive Cappelle Desprez. Soil drought did not induce characteristic differences between sensitive and tolerant cultivars in chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters of flag leaves during post-anthesis. Changes in the effective quantum yield of PSII (ΦPSII) and the photochemical quenching (qP) depended on the genotypes and not on the sensitivity of cultivars. In contrast, the levels of ABA in the kernels displayed typical fluctuations in the tolerant and in the sensitive cultivars. Tolerant genotypes exhibited an early maximum in the grain ABA content during drought and the sensitive cultivars maintained high ABA levels in the later stages of grain filling. In contrast with other genotypes, the grain number per ear did not decrease in Plainsman and the gliadin/glutenin ratio was higher than in the control in Emese during drought stress. A possible causal relationship between high ABA levels in the kernels during late stages of grain filling and a decreased grain yield was found in the sensitive cultivars during drought stress.