Synergistic Ability and Effect of Leaf Color and Leaf Thickness to Improve the Photosynthetic Performance of Wheat

Leaf traits are important factors affecting the photosynthetic capacity of crops. In Bainong 4199 (BN4199) and Aikang 58 (AK58) wheat, the role of leaf color and leaf thickness in improving wheat photosynthetic performance and its influence on material accumulation and yield were studied in the field environment. Compared with AK58, BN4199 has a deeper leaf color and thicker leaves. Further study on photosynthetic physiological characteristics showed that the photosynthetic capacity of BN4199 with deep color and thick leaves was higher than that of AK58 at flowering stage, 7 days after flowering, 15 days after flowering, and 20 days after flowering regardless of low light in the morning and evening or light at noon. During the flowering stage, the light saturation point and compensation point were 1% higher and 15.23% lower, respectively, in BN4199 than AK58. According to the diurnal variation in chlorophyll content in different growth stages, BN4199 was generally higher than AK58, and the chlorophyll content was the highest at each time point 7 days after flowering. The chlorophyll content was highest at each time point 7 days after flowering. Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and light reflectance analyses indicated that BN4199 has significantly higher photosynthetic electron transport and population light energy absorption and utilization capacity than AK58. The 2-year field yields indicated significantly higher material accumulation in BN4199 than AK58. In summary, thick leaves with deep color were resistant to both strong light and weak light, thus, markedly increasing photosynthetic efficiency. Improvement in leaf color and leaf thickness might serve as an important index to enhance the photosynthetic performance of wheat, and achieve improvement and breeding of wheat with high light efficiency.