Assessment of Drought Tolerance of Miscanthus Genotypes through Dry-Down Treatment and Fixed-Soil-Moisture-Content Techniques

Tzu-Ya Weng, Taiken Nakashima, Antonio Villanueva-Morales, J. Ryan Stewart, Erik J. Sacks and Toshihiko Yamada
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Tzu-Ya Weng: Graduate School of Global Food Resources, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 0600809, Hokkaido, Japan
Taiken Nakashima: Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 0608589, Hokkaido, Japan
Antonio Villanueva-Morales: Department of Statistics, Mathematics and Computing, Forest Sciences Division, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Texcoco 56230, Mexico
J. Ryan Stewart: Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84604, USA
Erik J. Sacks: Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 0600811, Hokkaido, Japan
Toshihiko Yamada: Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 0600811, Hokkaido, Japan

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: Miscanthus , a high-yielding, warm-season C 4 grass, shows promise as a potential bioenergy crop in temperate regions. However, drought may restrain productivity of most genotypes. In this study, total 29 Miscanthus genotypes of East-Asian origin were screened for drought tolerance with two methods, a dry-down treatment in two locations and a system where soil moisture content (SMC) was maintained at fixed levels using an automatic irrigation system in one location. One genotype, Miscanthus sinensis PMS-285, showed relatively high drought-tolerance capacity under moderate drought stress. Miscanthus sinensis PMS-285, aligned with the M. sinensis ‘Yangtze-Qinling’ genetic cluster, had relatively high principal component analysis ranking values in both two locations experiments, Hokkaido University and Brigham Young University. Genotypes derived from the ‘Yangtze-Qinling’ genetic cluster showed relatively greater photosynthetic performance than other genetic clusters, suggesting germplasm from this group could be a potential source of drought-tolerant plant material. Diploid genotypes showed stronger drought tolerance than tetraploid genotypes, suggesting ploidy could be an influential factor for this trait. Of the two methods, the dry-down treatment appears more suitable for selecting drought-tolerant genotypes given that it reflects water-stress conditions in the field. However, the fixed-SMC experiment may be good for understanding the physiological responses of plants to relatively constant water-stress levels.

Keywords: Miscanthus spp.; drought tolerance; photosynthetic parameters; bioenergy crops; automated irrigation control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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