Relationship between water content and grain weight in developing wheat grains

摘要

Grains, from basal (4th), central (8th) and apical (12th) spikelets of a wheat (Triticum aeslivum L.) cultivar Lok-1 were investigated for their fresh weight, dry weight and water content. Each spikelet had 3 grains and so in all 9 grains were analyzed. Grain dry weight data was fitted to polynomial equations and biphasic linear regression analysis. The experiments described here indicated that grains having maximum water content had maximum grain weight and vice versa. Maximum water content and maximum grain weight showed a highly significant linear correlation (P < 0.001). It is suggested that in genetic manipulation in wheat, maximum water content can be a used as a reliable criterion to help in selection for final grain weight.