Under terminal water deficit, the impact of stem carbohydrate remobilization has greater significance because post-anthesis assimilation is limited, and grain growth depends on translocation of carbohydrate reserves. The working hypothesis of this thesis is that increases in stem carbohydrates facilitate tolerance to terminal drought in wheat. The goals of this thesis are to examine this hypothesis using physiological and genetic tools; identify genes that are related to QTL for stem carbohydrate; work with wheat and barley breeders to integrate findings into the breeding program of the Department of Agricultural and Food Western Australia. The physiological data of three drought experiments (two years in a glasshouse and one year in the field) suggested the maximum level of stem water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) is not consistently related to grain weight, especially, under water deficit. The patterns of WSC accumulation after anthesis differed depending on variety and suggested that WSC degradation and translocation have different genetic determinants. Most of the carbohydrates in stem WSC in wheat are fructans. Because 1-FEH gene was an important gene in fructan degradation, the three copies of this gene (1-FEH w1, 1-FEH w2 and 1-FEH w3) were isolated from the respective genomes of bread wheat. In addition, the genes were mapped to chromosome locations and coincided with QTL for grain weight. The results of gene expression studies show that 1-FEH w3 had significantly higher levels in the stem and sheath which negatively corresponded to the level of stem WSC in two wheat varieties in both water-deficit and well-watered treatments. Strikingly, the 1-FEH w3 appeared to be activated by water deficit in Westonia but not in Kauz. The results suggest that stem WSC level is not, on its own, a reliable criterion to identify potential grain yield in wheat exposed to water deficit during grain filling. The expression of 1-FEH w3 may provide a better indicator when linked to instantaneous water use efficiency, osmotic potential and green leaf retention, and this requires validation in field grown plants. In view of the location of the contribution to grain filling of stem WSC, this is a potential candidate gene contributing to grain filling. The numerous differences of intron sequences of 1-FEH genes would provide more opportunities to find markers associated with the QTL. A new FEH gene was partially isolated from Chinese Spring and the sequence was closely related to 1-FEH genes. This gene, FEH w4, was mapped to 6AS using Chinese Spring deletion bin lines. The polymorphism of this gene was found between different bread varieties using PCRs and RFLPs, and this allowed the gene to be mapped to two populations of Hanxuan 10 × Lumai 14 and Cranbrook × Halberd. In the population of Hanxuan 10 × Lumai 14, it was close to SSR marker xgwm334 and wmc297 where the QTL of thousand grain weight and grain filling efficiency were located. This result indicated this gene might be another possible candidate gene for grain weight and grain filling in wheat.

Submitted by Marlene Santos (marlene.bc.ufg@gmail.com) on 2016-12-20T16:28:52Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Juliana Macêdo Silvestre - 2015.pdf: 815128 bytes, checksum: 3bea2ad6d4ab6f0e783b901523c0d838 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-12-26T14:12:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Juliana Macêdo Silvestre - 2015.pdf: 815128 bytes, checksum: 3bea2ad6d4ab6f0e783b901523c0d838 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-26T14:12:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Juliana Macêdo Silvestre - 2015.pdf: 815128 bytes, checksum: 3bea2ad6d4ab6f0e783b901523c0d838 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The Cerrado is a biome that occupies about 25% of Brazilian territory. The seasonality, hot-humid and cold-dry periods, is one of the most striking features of the Cerrado. Reduced rainfall reduces the availability of water in the surface layers of the soil and increases the evaporative demand of air leading to the formation of litter cooperating in cycling soil nutrients. Another important factor in the Cerrado is the occurrence of fires that influence the dispersion, bloom, sprouting and diversity of certain species of plants. The relationship between seasonality, low fertility of soils and naturally occurring fires has shaped vegetative and reproductive strategies of plants from the Cerrado biome. Ichthyothere terminalis (Spreng.) Blake Asteraceae species occurring in the Cerrado, accumulates large amounts of fructans in the underground organs as reserve carbohydrates. Fructans are fructose polymers which are synthesized by the enzymes 1-SST (sucrose: sucrose fructosyltransferase) and FFT (fructan: fructan fructosyltransferase) and depolymerized by 1-FEH (exohidrolase fructan) and invertase. This study investigated the effect of freezing in the production of the enzymes 1-SST, 1-FEH and Invertase in I. terminalis. The partial characterization of these enzymes was performed. The samples were frozen immediately after collection (EB2) or after 6 hours of transport to the laboratory (EB1). The highest amount of protein was found in EB1 (97.81 μg.mL-1) as compared to EB2 (11,90 μg.mL-1). The results showed that the extraction method was efficient, since there was a significant reduction in reducing sugars and the activity of enzymes 1-SST, 1-FEH and Invertase were detected, mainly in the EB1. Enzymes 1-SST and Invertase showed a pH optimum between pH 6 and 7, while the 1-FEH enzyme had a greater spectrum ranging from pH 5 to 7. The three enzymes had an optimum temperature in the range 40 to 50 (°C). This work represents an important step towards understanding the role of these enzymes in the fructan metabolism in I. terminalis. / O Cerrado é um bioma que ocupa cerca de 25% do território brasileiro. A sazonalidade climática, períodos quente-úmido e frio-seco, é uma das características mais marcantes do Cerrado. A redução pluviométrica diminui a disponibilidade de água nas camadas superficiais do solo e eleva a demanda evaporativa do ar levando a formação de serrapilheira que coopera na ciclagem de nutrientes do solo. Outro fator importante no Cerrado é a ocorrência de queimadas que influenciam na dispersão, floração, rebrota e diversidade de certas espécies de plantas. A relação entre sazonalidade climática, baixa fertilidade dos solos e ocorrência natural de queimadas tem moldado estratégias vegetativas e reprodutivas das plantas do bioma Cerrado. Ichthyothere terminalis(Spreng.) Blake, espécie da família Asteraceae ocorrente no Cerrado, acumula grandes quantidades de frutanos em seus órgãos subterrâneos como carboidratos de reserva. Os frutanos são polímeros de frutose sintetizados pelas enzimas 1-SST (sacarose: sacarose frutosiltransferase) e FFT (frutano:frutano frutosiltransferase) e despolimerizados pela 1-FEH (frutano exohidrolase) e invertase. O presente trabalho objetivou estudar o efeito do tempo de congelamento na produção das enzimas 1-SST, 1-FEH e Invertase em I. terminalis. Além disso, a caracterização parcial destas enzimas foi realizada. As amostras coletadas foram congeladas imediatamente após a coleta (EB2) ou após 6 horas de transporte até o laboratório (EB1). A análise da quantidade de proteína extraída mostrou que EB1 apresentou maior quantidade de proteínas (97,81 μg.mL-1) quando comparada com EB2 (11,90 μg.mL-1). O método de extração foi eficiente, pois houve uma redução significativa em açúcares redutores e a atividade das enzimas 1-SST, 1-FEH e Invertase foram detectadas, principalmente no EB1. As enzimas 1-SST e Invertase apresentaram um pH ótimo entre pH 6 e 7, ao passo que a enzima 1-FEH teve um espectro maior variando de pH 5 a 7. As três enzimas apresentaram uma temperatura ótima na faixa de 40 a 50 (°C). Este trabalho representa um passo importante para o entendimento do papel destas enzimas no metabolismo de frutanos em I. terminalis.