Superior leaf physiological performance contributes to sustaining the final yield of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) genotypes under terminal heat stress

Muhammad Sarwar; Muhammad Farrukh Saleem; Najeeb Ullah; Asjad Ali; Brian Collins; Muhammad Shahid; Muhammad Kashif Munir; Sang-Min Chung; Manu Kumar

doi:10.1007/s12298-023-01322-8

Superior leaf physiological performance contributes to sustaining the final yield of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) genotypes under terminal heat stress

Physiol Mol Biol Plants. 2023 May;29(5):739-753. doi: 10.1007/s12298-023-01322-8. Epub 2023 Jun 13.

Authors

Muhammad Sarwar¹, Muhammad Farrukh Saleem¹, Najeeb Ullah², Asjad Ali³, Brian Collins⁴, Muhammad Shahid⁵, Muhammad Kashif Munir⁶, Sang-Min Chung⁷, Manu Kumar⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
² Agricultural Research Station, Office of VP for Research and Graduate Studies, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar.
³ Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, PO Box 1054, Mareeba, QLD 4880 Australia.
⁴ College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4814 Australia.
⁵ Agronomic Research Station, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
⁶ Agronomic Research Institute, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁷ Department of Life Science, College of Life Science and Biotechnology, Dongguk University, Seoul, 10326 Korea.

Abstract

This study aimed to optimize methods for identifying heat-tolerant and heat-susceptible cotton plants by examining the relationship between leaf physiology and cotton yield. Cotton accessions were exposed to elevated temperatures through staggered sowing and controlled growth conditions in a glasshouse. Based on their yield performance, leaf physiology, cell biochemistry, and pollen germination, the accessions were categorized as heat-tolerant, moderately tolerant, or susceptible. High temperatures had a significant impact on various leaf physiological and biochemical factors, such as cell injury, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, leaf temperature, chlorophyll fluorescence, and enzyme activities. The germination of flower pollen and seed cotton yield was also affected. The study demonstrated that there was a genetic variability for heat tolerance among the tested cotton accessions, as indicated by the interaction between accession and environment. Leaf gas exchange, cell biochemistry, pollen germination, and cotton yield were strongly associated with heat-sensitive accessions, but this association was negligible in tolerant accessions. Principal component analysis was used to classify the accessions based on their performance under heat stress conditions. The findings suggest that leaf physiological traits, cell biochemistry, pollen germination, and cotton yield can be effective indicators for selecting heat-tolerant cotton lines. Future research could explore additional genetic traits for improved selection and development of heat-tolerant accessions.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-023-01322-8.

Keywords: Cell injury; Cotton; Genetic variability; PS-II; Temperature extreme; Yield.

© Prof. H.S. Srivastava Foundation for Science and Society 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.