Identification of stay-green and early senescence phenotypes in high-yielding winter wheat, and their relationship to grain yield and grain protein concentration using high-throughput phenotyping techniques

Yield and grain protein concentration (GPC) represent crucial factors in the global agricultural wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production and are predominantly determined via carbon and nitrogen metabolism, respectively. The maintenance of green leaf area and the onset of senescence (O-sen) are expected to be involved in both C and N accumulation and their translocation into grains. The aim of this study was to identify stay-green and early senescence phenotypes in a field experiment of 50 certified winter wheat cultivars and to investigate the relationships among O-sen, yield and GPC. Colour measurements on flag leaves were conducted to determine O-sen for 20 cultivars and partial least square regression models were used to calculate O-sen for the remaining 30 cultivars based on passive spectral reflectance measurements as a high-throughput phenotyping technique for all varieties. Using this method, stay-green and early senescence phenotypes could be clearly differentiated. A significant negative relationship between O-sen and grain yield (r(2) = 0.81) was observed. By contrast, GPC showed a significant positive relationship to O-sen (r(2) = 0.48). In conclusion, the high-throughput character of our proposed phenotyping method should help improve the detection of such traits in large field trials as well as help us reach a better understanding of the consequences of the timing of senescence on yield.