Heat stress: Impacts on fertility, productivity, and protein content of wheat cultivars

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of high temperatures on ear fertility, yield components and protein content of wheat cultivars. Therefore, 96 genotypes were subjected to two environments in a greenhouse: control and heat stress. Each environment had two replicates, totalling 192 plots. The evaluations were: number of ear per plant, number of ear per pot, ear weight, number of grains per ear, number of sterile spikelet’s, number of viable grains, grain weight and protein content. Principal component analysis (PCA) and genetic and phenotypic correlations were performed. The results showed a significant drop in productivity of the genotypes subjected to heat stress as well as significant increase in the number of sterile spikelet’s. The PCA allowed the selection of nine promising genotypes for cultivation in environments with high temperatures with basis on these traits, especially the cultivars CD 104, CD 122 and TBIO Itaipu.