Failure of ozone susceptibility tests to predict yield reductions in wheat

Several measures of injury to wheat seedlings following an acute exposure to ozone were evaluated to determine their effectiveness in predicting susceptible and tolerant cultivars of wheat, Triticum aestivum L., to ozone. Estimates of plant susceptibility from visual injury, chlorophyll loss, and stress ethylene production did not correlate with each other or with actual yield reductions in plants exposed to long term treatment with ozone. The inability of tested measures to accurately predict ozone susceptible and tolerant cultivars limits the use of these measures as rapid screening techniques for determining sensitibity of wheat cultivars to ozone.