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Abstract: Bread wheat has been frequently characterised as sink-limited during grain filling but the degree of sink-limitation could vary with the contribution of breeding in increasing the number of grains per unit land area. This hypothetical change in the level of sink-limitation due to breeding has been insufficiently documented. Two source–sink manipulation experiments under field conditions with three released cultivars and an advanced breeding line representing important steps in wheat breeding in the Mediterranean area of Spain were conducted in order to quantify whether genetic improvement of grain yield in Mediterranean wheat modified the source–sink balance during grain filling, and how it affected grain weight and post-anthesis photosynthetically active radiation intercepted by the crop (IPAR) and radiation use efficiency (RUE). Average grain weight of control and trimmed spikes during grain filling was not significantly affected by halving the number of growing grains in the two oldest cultivars, but it was significantly increased in the most modern line, and had an intermediate response in the intermediate cultivar. In those cases in which a certain degree of source-limitation during grain growth occurred the magnitude of the response reflected a co-rather than a source-limitation. Considering grains from different positions within the spikes the smaller (distal) grains responded more markedly than the larger (proximal) grains. No differences in post-anthesis IPAR were found between the trimmed and control sub-plots for any of the genotypes. However, trimming the spikes reduced post-anthesis RUE, a fact corroborated by a simultaneous reduction in leaf net photosynthetic rate at noon. It seems that bread wheat breeding has tended to reduce the strength of the sink-limitation during post-anthesis even under Mediterranean conditions, and consequently the most modern line presented a sort of co-limitation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Twelve field experiments comparing 24 durum wheat varieties from three periods—old (<1945), intermediate (1950–1985) and modern (1988–2000)—were carried out in order to ascertain the advances made in durum wheat yield components and related traits in Italian and Spanish germplasm. Grain yield improvements were based on linear increases in the number of grains per m2 and harvest index, while grain weight and biomass remained unchanged. Yield per plant increased at a rate of 0.36 and 0.44% y−1 and the number of grains per m2 improved by 39% and 55% in Italian and Spanish varieties, respectively. The mean rate of increase in the number of grains per m2 was 0.55% y−1. Plants per m2, spikes per plant and grains per spike contributed 20%, 29% and 51%, respectively, to the increase in the number of grains per m2. The enhance of the number of grains per m2 was due to the greater grain set in the modern varieties, since the number of spikelets per spike remained unchanged. Harvest index increased overall by 0.48% y−1 (0.40 and 0.53% y−1 in Italian and Spanish varieties, respectively). Plant height was the trait that suffered the most dramatic changes (it decreased at a rate of −0.81% y−1, with little difference between the varieties of the two countries), as consequence of the presence of the Rht-B1 dwarfing gene. Harvest index and plant height, which were the traits that most contributed to discriminating between periods, remained unchanged from 1980 to 2000. The higher rates of improvement in Spain are discussed in the context of the contrasting strategies followed to improve durum wheat yield in the two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study explored whether the average grain weight of wheat tends to be reduced when grain number is increased due to either competition or, to a consistent increase in the relative proportion of grains of smaller weight potential. Three field experiments considering environmental, genetic and environmental×genetic effects on yield and its main components were analysed during the 2003/2004 growing season in two different locations within the Mediterranean area of Catalonia, Spain. The relationship between grain weight and number of grains per unit land area was analysed for both the average of all grains (AGW) and for grains in specific positions of the main-shoot spikes: proximal (CPg) and distal (CDg) grains of central spikelets, and proximal grains of the near apical (APg) and near basal (BPg) spikelets. The proportional contribution of grains per spike for the different grain positions and the relative contribution of spikes per m2 made by the main shoot or tillers were also examined. In the three experiments, AGW was reduced when grain number was increased due to genetic and/or environmental factors. However, the slopes of the straight-lines that represented the negative relationship between grain number and grain weight were lower (less negative) and less significant for CPg (b =−0.20, P >0.20), CDg (b =0.06, P >0.20) and BPg (b =−0.21, P >0.20) than for AGW (b =−0.40, P <0.05). The proportional contribution of distal grains and tiller spikes (both with relatively light grains) were directly related to grain number increases. Therefore, as grain number increased there was a higher proportion of grains of low potential weight. Thus, the average grain weight was concomitantly reduced when grain number increased by increasing the proportion of “small grains” in the canopy independently of any competitive relationship between growing grains. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]