Morphological and Physiological Traits Associated with Yield under Reduced Irrigation in Chilean Coastal Lowland Quinoa

Plants, vol. 11, pp. 323

Abstract

Willd.) is a genetically diverse crop that has gained popularity in recent years due to its high nutritional content and ability to tolerate abiotic stresses such as salinity and drought. Varieties from the coastal lowland ecotype are of particular interest due to their insensitivity to photoperiod and their potential to be cultivated in higher latitudes. We performed a field experiment in the southern Atacama Desert in Chile to investigate the responses to reduced irrigation of nine previously selected coastal lowland self-pollinated (CLS) lines and the commercial cultivar Regalona. We found that several lines exhibited a yield and seed size superior to Regalona, also under reduced irrigation. Plant productivity data were analyzed together with morphological and physiological traits measured at the visible inflorescence stage to estimate the contribution of these traits to differences between the CLS lines and Regalona under full and reduced irrigation. We applied proximal sensing methods and found that thermal imaging provided a promising means to estimate variation in plant water use relating to yield, whereas hyperspectral imaging separated lines in a different way, potentially related to photosynthesis as well as water use.

Authors 6

1. Kathryn Dumschott Aachen Institute for Biology I

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Biology I, BioSC, RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen, Germany

   Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Bioinformatics (IBG-4), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

2. Nathalie Wuyts

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

3. Christian Alfaro

   Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias

   Affiliation as printed

   Centro de Investigación Intihuasi (AZS), Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, La Serena 1722093, Chile

   Centro de Investigación Quilamapu, Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Chillán 3780000, Chile

   Centro de Investigación Rayentué (CA), Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Rengo 2940000, Chile

4. Dalma Castillo

   Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias

   Affiliation as printed

   Centro de Investigación Intihuasi (AZS), Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, La Serena 1722093, Chile

   Centro de Investigación Quilamapu, Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Chillán 3780000, Chile

   Centro de Investigación Rayentué (CA), Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Rengo 2940000, Chile

5. Fabio Fiorani corresponding

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

6. Andrés Zurita‐Silva corresponding

   Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias

   Affiliation as printed

   Centro de Investigación Intihuasi (AZS), Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, La Serena 1722093, Chile

   Centro de Investigación Quilamapu, Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Chillán 3780000, Chile

   Centro de Investigación Rayentué (CA), Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Rengo 2940000, Chile