The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 3 Baron Hay Court, South Perth, WA 6151, Australia.
The School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
Genes (Basel). 2022 Mar 24;13(4):578. doi: 10.3390/genes13040578.
Crop phenotyping experiments have long struggled to have a reliable control treatment that excludes frost and associated freezing damage to plants. Previous attempts used a barrier, such as a removable shelter or cloth to exclude frost. However, these methods were labour intensive and varied in their effectiveness. An automated diesel heater was used to protect field plots of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from frost damage. In 2018 and 2019 there were 22 and 33 radiation frost events from July to October at the field site. The heater maintained canopy air temperature above freezing (>0 °C) for the duration of the frost (~6−8 h). Heated plots had 2−3 °C warmer minimum canopy air temperatures. Cold and chilling damage was still present in heated plots and represented 20−30% floret sterility; freezing damage in non-heated plots accounted for an additional 10−30% floret sterility. Grain mapping revealed: grain set in the apical spikelets is most affected by frost damage; proximal florets (G1 and G2) contribute the most to grain yield, but distal (G3 and G4) are important contributors to grain yield when sterility in proximal florets occurs. These results demonstrate that a plot heater is a useful tool to study frost-induced freezing damage in cereal crops, by way of preventing freezing damage in heated field plots for direct comparison to naturally frosted plots. This approach could be used to develop improved damage functions for crop simulation models through a dose and timing-response experiment for natural frost incidence on cereal crops in field plots.
作物表型实验长期以来一直努力寻找一种可靠的对照处理方法，以排除霜害和与之相关的植物冻害。以前的尝试使用了一种屏障，如可移动的遮蔽物或布来排除霜害。然而，这些方法劳动强度大，效果不一。为了防止田间小麦（Triticum aestivum L.）受到霜害，使用了自动化的柴油加热器。在 2018 年和 2019 年，从 7 月到 10 月，该试验点发生了 22 次和 33 次辐射霜事件。在整个霜期（约 6-8 小时），加热器将冠层空气温度保持在冰点以上（>0°C）。加热后的地块的最小冠层空气温度要高出 2-3°C。在加热后的地块中仍然存在冷害和寒害，占花不育的 20-30%；未加热地块中的冻害则占花不育的另外 10-30%。谷物测绘显示：顶端小穗的谷物结实最易受霜害影响；近穗（G1 和 G2）对谷物产量的贡献最大，但当近穗出现不育时，远穗（G3 和 G4）对谷物产量的贡献也很重要。这些结果表明，通过在加热的田间地块中防止冻害，plots heater 是一种研究谷物作物因霜害引起的冻害的有用工具，可以直接与自然受霜地块进行比较。这种方法可以通过在田间地块中对自然霜害发生进行剂量和时间响应试验，为作物模拟模型开发改进的损伤函数。
