Genetic variation in nitrogen-use efficiency and its associated traits in dryland winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars released from the 1940s to the 2010s in Shaanxi Province, China
Journal of the science of food and agriculture(2023)
Abstract
BACKGROUND Improving the nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) of wheat can help mitigate the problems of poor soil fertility under dryland conditions. We conducted field experiments using three nitrogen (N) fertilization levels (0, 120, and 180 kg ha(-1)) applied to eight dryland wheat cultivars to assess NUE and its associated traits. RESULTS The grain yield significantly increased with the improvement in variety, mainly as a result of a substantial increase in 1000-grain weight and harvest index. Modern wheat varieties have stabilized at an optimal plant height and exhibited improved performance in terms of NUE, partial N productivity, N harvest index, and grain protein content compared to older varieties. The NUE of wheat gradually increased with variety replacement. The net photosynthesis rate of the flag leaves in the filling stage improved with the year of cultivar release; Increasing soil-plant analysis development (SPAD) values of flag leaves in the flowering and filling stages were observed over time, with the flag leaves of modern varieties showing a high chlorophyll content in the filling stage. Additionally, the principal component analysis showed that the SPAD value, grain number per unit area, transpiration rate, leaf area, and grain protein content positively contributed to the clustering of the N180 and modern cultivars (from the 2000s to 2010s). CONCLUSION Overall, high levels of N application did not significantly improve the NUE of wheat. However, modern wheat varieties can optimize N distribution, increase flag leaf photosynthetic capacity, and improve photosynthesis ability, thus enhancing NUE to achieve high yields under a suitable level of N supply. (c) 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.
MoreTranslated text
Key words
Triticum aestivum L,dryland winter wheat,genetic improvement,nitrogen-use efficiency,grain yield
AI Read Science
Must-Reading Tree
Example
![](https://originalfileserver.aminer.cn/sys/aminer/pubs/mrt_preview.jpeg)
Generate MRT to find the research sequence of this paper
Chat Paper
Summary is being generated by the instructions you defined