1992 Volume 61 Issue 4 Pages 651-658
In order to clarify the response of crop to sink restriction, we examined the effect of ear removal on dry matter production, its partitioning into various organs and nonstructural carbohydrate content of the flag leaf during grain filling in wheat and barley with different inflorescences. In both crops, there was no significant difference in the total dry weights of the control and no-ear plants from ear removal treatment to the harvesting stage. The weights of leaf blade, leaf sheath, roots, stem and late tillers that developed after ear removal increased after ear removal. Although the weight of stem plus leaf sheath did not decrease until the maturation stage in the no-ear wheat, the weight in the no-ear barley decreased to the same extent as in the control plants. The increase in the late tillers in barley was larger than in wheat. The increase in weights of leaf blade and leaf sheath was larger at the upper leaf position in wheat, but was the same among the leaves at different positions in barley. The increase in the weight of the flag leaf after ear removal was mainly due to the increase in sucrose in both crops. The increase in sucrose was larger in wheat than in barley, while the increase in glucose and fructose began earlier and was larger in barley than in wheat.
