Abstract
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is grown on more arable acreage than any other food crop and has been well documented to produce allelochemicals. Wheat allelochemicals include numerous benzoxazinoids and their microbially transformed metabolites that actively suppress growth of weed seedlings. Production and subsequent release of these metabolites by commercial wheat cultivars, however, has not yet been targeted by focussed breeding programmes seeking to develop more competitive crops. Recently, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation (CSIRO), through an extensive recurrent selection programme investment, released numerous early-vigour wheat genotypes for commercial use, but the physiological basis for their improved vigour is under investigation. In the current study, we evaluated several early-vigour genotypes alongside common commercial and heritage wheat cultivars to assess the impact of improved early vigour on the production and release of targeted benzoxazinoids by field-grown wheat roots over a two-year period. Using UPLC coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS QQQ), we quantified common wheat benzoxazinoids and their microbially produced metabolites (aminophenoxazinones) in soil collected from the rhizosphere and rhizoplane of wheat plants over two growing seasons in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The benzoxazolinone MBOA and several aminophenoxazinones were readily detected in soil samples, but actual soil concentrations differed greatly between years and among genotypes. In contrast to 2019, the concentration of aminophenoxazinones in wheat rhizosphere soil was significantly elevated in 2020, a year receiving adequate rainfall for optimal wheat growth. Aminophenoxazinones were detected in the rhizosphere of early-vigour genotypes and also parental lines exhibiting weed suppression, suggesting that improved early vigour and subsequent weed competitiveness may be related to increased root exudation and production of microbial metabolites in addition to changes in canopy architecture or other root-related early-vigour traits. As previously reported, MBOA was detected frequently in both the rhizoplane and rhizosphere of wheat. Depending on the year and genotype, we also observed enhanced biotransformation of these metabolites to several microbially transformed aminophenoxazinones in the rhizosphere of many of the evaluated genotypes. We are now investigating the role of early-vigour traits, including early canopy closure and biomass accumulation upon improved competitive ability of wheat, which will eventually result in more cost-effective weed management.