Effect of cytoplasmic diversity on post anthesis heat tolerance in wheat

To study the cytoplasmic effects on heat tolerance, the nuclear genomes of ten alloplasmic lines were substituted by four or five backcrosses using ‘Karl 92’, ‘Ventnor’, ‘U1275’ and ‘Jagger’ as the recurrent parent. During the final backcross, reciprocal crosses were made to develop cytoplasmic near isogenic lines. Sixty-eight BC5F1/BC4F1 lines and their parents were evaluated in growth chambers for post anthesis heat tolerance. Plants were grown in the greenhouse and subjected to heat stress in growth chambers 10 days after anthesis for 14 days. Growth chambers were maintained at 35/30 °C for heat stress treatment. To create an optimum temperature treatment, the greenhouse was maintained at 20/15 °C. Effects of high temperature on chlorophyll content and Fv/Fm (photosystem II measuring parameter) were significantly affected by different cytoplasms. Seven cytoplasms showed improved tolerance to heat with at least one recurrent parent. These results indicate that cytoplasmic variations can contribute to an increase in chlorophyll content and quantum efficiency of photosystem II of wheat during heat stress, and also highlight the importance of the interaction between cytoplasmic and nuclear genes. The role of cytoplasm may be considered in wheat breeding programs aimed at improving heat tolerance, but the nature of the interaction between cytoplasm and nuclear gene content warrants further investigation.