In a pot experiment, the stomata characteristics of bread wheat Triticum aestivum L. (variety Zymoyarka) and its relatives: spelt T. spelta L. and emmer T. dicoccum (Schuebl.) Schrank, which have a number of important adaptive traits to abiotic stresses, were studied. The research was conducted on the flag leaf at the flowering stage. It was established that emmer plants had the largest stomata density on both sides of the leaf, however the size of guard cells, length, width and area of one pore aperture are the smallest compared to spelt and Zymoyarka variety. As a result, the total area of stomatal pore aperture on the adaxial side of emmer leaf was similar to the values in Zymoyarka and spelt, and on the abaxial surface the value of this index in emmer was the largest. Under optimal soil moisture conditions (70 % of field capacity (FC)), emmer plants had higher stomatal conductance and transpiration rate, but the studied wheat genotypes did not differ significantly in photosynthetic activity. Drought (reduction in soil moisture to 30 % FC) for 7 days reduced stomatal conductance, transpiration and photosynthesis rate in emmer (by 60, 40 and 34 %, respectively) more than in bread wheat (by 38, 35 and 21 %) and spelt (by 42, 28 and 28 %). At the same time, the water use efficiency at photosynthesis (WUEi) increased by 6 % in bread wheat and 11 % in emmer. A greater degree of photosynthesis inhibition in emmer was associated with a significant (60 %) increase in the photorespiration activity. The analysis of the relationships between the morphological features of the stomata and gas exchange characteristics in wheat genotypes revealed that a higher stomata density in emmer contributes to higher stomatal conductance and transpiration rate, though somewhat lower WUEi at photosynthesis under conditions of high light intensity and optimal watering. Due to the strong negative correlation between the stomata density and their size, the larger guard cells in spelt and bread wheat negatively correlated with the gas exchange rate under optimal conditions. Under short-term soil drought, a greater number of smaller stomata in emmer was associated with a significant decrease in stomatal conductance, but an increase in WUEi and photorespiration rate — important components of adaptation to conditions of limited water supply.
Keywords: Triticum aestivum L., Triticum spelta L., Triticum dicoccum (Schuebl.) Schrank, stomata, stomatal conductance, transpiration, photosynthesis, photorespiration, soil drought
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