Structural failure in cereal stems under climate extremes: insights from barley head loss

Clicks: 26
ID: 326821
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #96 of 406 articles by views in Journal of experimental botany

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 406 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Structural failure of cereal stems during late-season climate extremes is a critical determinant of yield stability. In barley, breakage of the stem below the spike, known as head loss, leads to major yield losses, particularly in hot and dry regions where the crop is widely grown. Despite a predicted increase in head loss risk due to global warming, current understanding of the genetic, physiological, anatomical, and environmental factors that control head loss remains limited. Overcoming these knowledge gaps is essential to providing a systems-level strategy for barley breeders to develop climate-ready cultivars that are resilient to stem breakage and suitable for industry adoption. Here, we review present knowledge and highlight opportunities for innovation to mitigate head loss through interdisciplinary approaches that combine precise phenotyping through mechanical testing of stem strength and flexibility, high-throughput phenotyping through drone-based spike counting, and genetic modification strategies informed by studies on hormonal regulation and cell wall composition. Coupled with genotypic data, these efforts will enable the development of a genomic selection platform to facilitate future breeding programs. The framework and tools discussed here are broadly applicable to improving stem resilience in other cereal crops.
Reference Key
openalex_W7204485755 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Raj Nirmal Rajendran, M. Timothy Rabanus‐Wallace, Jinghan Lu, Geoffrey B. Fincher, Caterina Selva, Matthew R. Tucker, James Hunt, David Moody, Mohammad Pourkheirandish
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal Journal of experimental botany
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jxb/erag415
URL
https://academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/jxb/erag415/70822535/erag415.pdf
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.