PS Seminar Series - Nocturnal warming and physiological acclimation in crops: lessons from a 100+ years of Australian wheat

Abstract: Global increases in mean minimum temperature (i.e. night temperature) is associated with significant crop yield losses. For major food crops including wheat, yield reductions can be up to 6–9% per 1°C increase in night temperature. Using Australian wheat cultivars released over a 100+ years (from 1901 to early 2010s), we tested if respiratory and photosynthetic acclimation to warm nights are common and to what degree they occur? Night respiratory CO₂ release acclimated to night warming but acclimation of day respiration and photosynthesis were not typical. In this talk I will also explore possible linkages between changes in phenology, particularly the critical period for grain number, and yield. This talk will contribute to understanding the impact of global warming on crop productivity.

Biography: Dr Onoriode Coast is a Senior Lecturer in Crop Science at the University of New England in Australia. Originally from Nigeria, he has lived, worked and studied across four continents (Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia). Coast was Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Atkin Group in RSB from 2016 to 2020. He investigates crop physiological thermal tolerances, with a focus on leaf photosynthesis and respiration, and their association with yield. Coast also works on developing high-throughput systems for estimating physiological traits, and optimising crop production in high-input resource-intensive systems.