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Wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Norin 61) plants were grown under five different photon flux densities obtained by modulating the number of green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) under white fluorescent lamps. The experiment was conducted under continuous irradiation at a constant temperature of 20°C to clarify the developmental responses of wheat to the fluence rate of green light. The higher the photon flux density of green light, the shorter the number of days from emergence to heading. The earliest heading was observed in the plants grown under 496 green LEDs, 32.0 days after emergence. A significant logarithmic function could fit the relationship between the fluence rate of green light and developmental rate. In this report, principal component analysis (PCA) was adopted to analyze the confounding of green light versus photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) with 17 developmental and morphological traits. The eigenvalues explained were 5.64, 3.20, and 2.61, respectively, for the first, second and third principal components (PCs). The first PC was assumed as the factor related to the isometric growth, and the third PC was assumed as the factor related to the developmental rate and culm elongation. Therefore, it was supposed that the first and third PCs were affected by the PPFD and the photon flux density of green light, respectively. The results suggested that the fluence rate of green light affects the development of wheat as a signal source. Furthermore, the development of wheat was promoted by the green light independent of PPFD.

The developmental rate of wheat was investigated under continuous light of eight different qualities (in eight plots) obtained by combining three out of four different kinds of fluorescent lamps (white, blue, purplish red and ultraviolet-A) at a constant temperature of 20°C. A Japanese spring wheat var. Norin 61 and a winter wheat var. Shun-yo were used. The number of days from seeding to heading varied extensively with the variety and the light quality. The first heading was observed in the plot under three white fluorescent lamps (W + W + W) at 37 and 81 days after seeding in Norin 61 and Shun-yo, respectively. The developmental rate in both cultivars was significantly correlated with the ratio of energy in 500-550 nm range (green light) and 600-700 nm range (red light) to that in the whole spectral range (250-1,000 nm). These results suggest that green and red lights play important roles in the regulation of the developmental rate independent of photoperiodism and vernalization.

Studies regarding the developmental stage of common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) have not been adequately performed despite its importance in studying the yield-determining process. In addition, the difference between common buckwheat and Tartary buckwheat (F. tataricum (L.) Gaertn.) is still unclear. In the present study, the differentiation and growth of the growing point until the stage of flower bud appearance were evaluated in the common buckwheat variety ‘Kitawasesoba’ and the Tartary buckwheat variety ‘Manten-Kirari’, which are the leading buckwheat varieties in Hokkaido, Japan. With some exceptions, the developmental stages of ‘Kitawasesoba’ and ‘Manten-Kirari’ can be distinguished. Thus, leaf primordia, axillary flower bud, and terminal flower bud differentiations and growths were observed. Both the common and Tartary buckwheat varieties did not exhibit large differences in the morphology of the growing point. However, the two varieties showed differences in the rates of differentiation and growth.Received: April 11, 2019; accepted: June 8, 2019Keywords: common buckwheat, developmental stage, growing point, Hokkaido, Tartary buckwheat