T. Takahashi et al., GRAIN FILLING MECHANISMS IN SPRING WHEAT .1. GRAIN FILLING PHASES ACCORDING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF PLANT ORGANS, Nippon Sakumotsu Gakkai Kiji, 62(4), 1993, pp. 560-564
To define the growth phases for analyzing the physiological and morpho
logical mechanisms of grain filling in a spring wheat canopy, the dry
weight of the grains and the water soluble sugar content (WSC) and str
uctural weight of the culm were measured for the variety Haruyutaka ev
eryday during the grain-filling period. The grain-filling period was d
ivided into four phases; (1) Intitial grain filling (from anthesis to
cessation of culm elongation) where assimilate is used mainly for culm
elongation and the dry weight of the grains increase slightly; (2) Ea
rly grain filling (from cessation of culm elongation to the milk ripe
stage) where assimilate is used for both grain growth and culm reserve
. (3) Late grain filling (from the milk ripe stage to termination of p
hotosynthesis) where assimilate is used entirely for grain growth and
the culm reserve is also translocated to the grain; and (4) Final grai
n filling (from the end of photosynthesis to maturity) where grain gro
wth is supported only by translocation of the culm reserve because ass
imilate is no longer being actively produced. In the early and late gr
ain-filling phases, the increase rate of the WSC in the culm was relat
ed linearly to radiation (r = 0.616**), while grain weight increased
linearly with time (r = 0.992**), independent of radiation.