In order to study the effects of water stress on photosynthetic characteristics and yield formation of different drought-tolerant oat genotypes, we used the water sensitive cultivar Bayou 3 and the drought-resistant cultivar Mengyan 1 as test materials,and carried out four different water stress treatments, including severe stress(30% field water holding capacity(FWC)), moderate stress(45%FWC), moderate water control(60%FWC) and normal water supply(CK, 75%FWC) at jointing and heading stages,with pot culture in the rain-proof shelter. We measured the leaf chlorophyll content, gas exchange rate, chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics parameters, yield and its components. The results showed that the leaf chlorophyll a(Chl a) content, chlorophyll b(Chl b) content,total chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, maximum fluorescence, the maximal photochemical efficiency(Fv/Fm), the actual photochemical efficiency, photochemical quenching coefficients in two oat cultivars were significantly decreased, while the initial fluorescence and the non-photochemical quenching coefficient were increased with the increase of water stress, and the extent of photo-inhibition in Bayou 3 were significantly higher than that in Mengyan 1.The photosynthetic characteristics and yield of oats affected by water stress were higher at jointing stage than those at heading stage. Under moderate and severe water stress, the spikelet number and thousand kernel weight were significantly decreased and abortive grain number significantly increased(P<0.05) and the grain yield was decreased by 13.9%-25.7%. Under moderate water control treatment, the grain yield of Mengyan 1 was not significantly decreased and the water use efficiency increased compared with that of CK.Under moderate and severe water stresses, the spikelet number and grain umber per panicle were significantly decreased(P<0.05) and the grain yield was decreased by 9.1%-23.5%.However, due to the higher value of Fv/Fm and Chl a/b in Mengyan 1 under water stress, the grain yield in Mengyan 1 were significantly higher than that of Bayou 3 under the same water treatment. We can draw a conclusion that the drought-resistant cultivar Mengyan 1 can relieve the damage of photo-systemⅡand photo-inhibition under water stress, leading to the increase of assimilate accumulation, finally alleviate yield loss of oat. |