Evaluation of Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) population for drought survival and behavior

Latifa Zhouri (1, 2) , Rajae Kallida (2) , Naima Shaimi (3) , Philippe Barre (4) , Florence Volaire (5) , Fatima Gaboun (6) , Malika Fakiri (1)

1 Laboratory of Agri-food and health, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques
2 Research Unit Animal Production and Forage
3 Research Unit Plant Breeding, Conservation and Valorization of Plant Genetic Resources
4 P3F - Unité de Recherche Pluridisciplinaire Prairies et Plantes Fourragères
5 CEFE - Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
6 Research Unit Biotechnology

Climate change models predict frequent and intense droughts in the world. Development of drought-tolerant species and cultivars is necessary to cope with such changes. Forage grass species are affected, especially in the Mediterranean region. The aim of the present study was to investigate the diversity for drought survival, summer dormancy, and productivity within a cocksfoot population. The study was conducted in Morocco, under field conditions from 2011 to 2013. 283 genotypes of cocksfoot and parents were tested, characterized for dry matter yield, heading date, plant height, senescence, summer dormancy, and drought survival. Results exhibited a large variability between traits. 79% of the population had survived after severe drought summer while 57% yielded more than both parents. Also, 63% of the progeny had an intermediate score of summer dormancy estimated by senescence score. Large variability was also noticed for heading date and plant height. Several accessions combined a high yield and persistence under severe summer drought. Which explain the significant correlation (r = 0.18, P < 0.005) founded between total dry matter accumulated in 2013 and plant survival. Accordingly, our results showed that we can rise persistent and resilient genotypes among population with a good level of biomass.

Mots clés: Cocksfoot; Drought resistance; Hybrids; Plants survival; Summer dormancy; genetic variability

Mots clés: résistance à la sécheresse; dormance estivale; maroc; dactylis glomerata; variabilité génétique

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie

Latifa Zhouri, Rajae Kallida, Naima Shaimi, Philippe Barre, Florence Volaire, et al.. Evaluation of Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) population for drought survival and behavior. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 2019, 26 (1), pp.49-56. ⟨10.1016/j.sjbs.2016.12.002⟩. ⟨hal-01602893⟩