The ozone-like syndrome in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.): Mechanisms underlying the different symptomatic responses of two sensitive cultivars.

Colombo and Sculptur are two modern durum wheat cultivars that, in previous studies, proved to be very sensitive to ozone injury in terms of eco-physiological parameters and significant grain yield loss. Nevertheless, their response regarding leaf visible symptoms was very different; Sculptur showed almost no symptoms, even after several weeks of ozone exposure, whereas Colombo showed in a few weeks typical ozone-like symptoms (chlorotic/necrotic spots). The mechanisms underlying this different response has been studied with a biochemical and microscopical approach.

Contrasting effects of water salinity and ozone concentration on two cultivars of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) in Mediterranean conditions.

This paper reports the results of an Open-Top Chambers experiment on the responses of two durum wheat cultivars (Neodur and Virgilio) exposed to two different levels of ozone (charcoal-filtered air and ozone-enriched air) and irrigation water salinity (tap water as control and a 75 mM NaCl solution once a week). The stomatal conductance of the flag leaves was measured on four dates during May. Flag leaf samples were collected to detect ozone visible leaf injuries.