I am not an agriculturist so can anyone help me understand the role of flag leaf, in spike/ panicle development, grain filling, mechanism of movement of nutrients from flag to the spike/ developing seeds?
If anyone has some related review or research papers, kindly attach them or send me a link.
Dear Neelofar Mirza
Please conceptualize wheat as a production system. The yield goes to the grain. Then grain is a sink for such system. Now green tissues are source. So, there is a source-sink relationship. Source makes photosynthetic assimilates which are carbon compounds. Source is leaf, stem, or even own. Light makes green tissues to convert mineral carbon to organic carbon. Then the assimilates move towards sink (grain). The last powerful green tissue highly contributing to what is accumulated in grain is flag leaf. Flag leaf is the one immediately below spike. If damaged, then you do not have source by which to fill the sink.
I hope this simple model gives you enough key words to search the web.
Bests of luck
Mohsen
The flag leaf plays a very important role in grain filling is small grain crops such as wheat, barley, oats, triticale, etc because of its position on the culm. It is the topmost leaf and as such it intercepts quite a lot of radiation. Assimilation translocation from the flag leaf (source) to the the panicle (reproductive sink) is enhanced by the proximity of the flag leaf to the sink. When the flag leaf of a small grain cereal crop is lost or destroyed, grain yield is lost as a result. Professor Vincent Ogunlela
Dear Neelofar Mirza
Please conceptualize wheat as a production system. The yield goes to the grain. Then grain is a sink for such system. Now green tissues are source. So, there is a source-sink relationship. Source makes photosynthetic assimilates which are carbon compounds. Source is leaf, stem, or even own. Light makes green tissues to convert mineral carbon to organic carbon. Then the assimilates move towards sink (grain). The last powerful green tissue highly contributing to what is accumulated in grain is flag leaf. Flag leaf is the one immediately below spike. If damaged, then you do not have source by which to fill the sink.
I hope this simple model gives you enough key words to search the web.
Bests of luck
Mohsen
Dear Mirza
Upto 70 % of the carbohydrates stored in the grains is synthesized by Flag leaf.
Interception of light and other resources determines the yield. The organ responsible for light interception is leaf predominantly. The dimension, position and angle of the leaf, which forms part of the canopy architecture determines the amount of light intercepted. Flag leaf as rightly pointed out here is well positioned to intercept light and the assimilates are eventually translocated to the sink, eg. ear. At the grain filling stage, a very vital phenological phase in crop development, lack of adequate functioning of source, in this case the flag leaf that is closest to the ear might compromise the yield or the crop might be forced to remobilise assimilate from other sources.
Dear Neelofer
Flag leaf contributes or provides food assimilates to grain in wheat as described by others like Dr Sakariyawo and Mohsen Mohammadi.
Thank you all n thanks @ Fulai Liu for the paper.
Actually, my work is on calcium uptake, translocation and accumulation. Calcium is believed to be generally immobile i.e. once deposited in a tissue e.g. a leaf, it is not redistributed.
I wanted to know,
if along with the photosynthates, minerals also get translocated from flag leaf to sink and especially what about calcium
is their any report/ paper regarding this, is there any report regarding remobilization of calcium (especially from source to sink)...
In addition to nutritional role, it also plays a protective role to the immerging inflorescence
Definite role will be playd by flag leaf and I have the experience of the effect of flag leaf on grainfilling in rice.
Mahendra
Dear Neelofar
As you know the highest photosynthesis exisit in 3th or 4th leaves of a wheat or other cereals. But as they are in shadow of upper leaves, their photosynthesis are in lower rate. In a canopy the flage leaf is exposed to solar radiation and therfore its role in grai filling increse.
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