Differential responses of grain yield, grain protein, and their associated traits to nitrogen supply in soft red winter wheat. Issue 3 (28th March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tamang, Bishal G.; Brasier, Kyle G.; Thomason, Wade E.; Griffey, Carl A.; Fukao, Takeshi
• Is Part Of: Journal of plant nutrition and soil science. Volume 180:Issue 3(2017:Jun.)
• Page Start: 316
• Page End: 325
• Publication Date: 2017-03-28
• Subjects: carbohydrates -- nitrogen deficiency -- nitrogen use efficiency -- Triticum aestivum; Plants -- Nutrition -- Periodicals; Soil science -- Periodicals; 630
• DOI: 10.1002/jpln.201600312
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1436-8730

Abstract

Abstract: Increased application of nitrogen fertilizers has significantly raised grain yield and protein concentration in wheat. However, only 30–50% of applied fertilizer nitrogen are usually utilized by the plant. In this study, four soft red winter wheat genotypes ( Triticum aestivum L., IL07‐4415, MD05W10208‐11‐8, OH06‐150‐57 and Sisson) were grown under three different nitrogen regimes (high, medium, and low) in a greenhouse, and grain yield, grain protein concentration, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and their associated traits were evaluated. Among the four genotypes, a high‐yielding cultivar, Sisson, exhibited superior performance in terms of grain weight plant −1 and NUE for yield (NUEY) at low nitrogen due to maintained grain number spike −1 and harvest index. Significant yield losses due to nitrogen limitation were attributable to reduced spike number plant −1 and grain number spike −1 in the other genotypes. Interestingly, a linear relationship between NUEY and NUE for grain protein (NUEP) was detected at high ( R 2 = 0.67) and low ( R 2 = 0.42) nitrogen; both of these traits were positively correlated with grain number spike −1, 1000‐seed weight, and harvest index under nitrogen‐limited conditions ( R 2 = 0.35–0.48). These results suggest that simultaneous improvement of NUEY and NUEP could be achieved through the selection of the three yield components (grain number spike −1, 1000‐seed weight, and harvest index) at low nitrogen.