Effect of Nitrogen and Water Deficit Stress on Corn (Zea mays L.) Root Characters and Grain Yield

پژوهشهای زراعی ایران

Article 1, Volume 18, Issue 2 - Serial Number 58, July 2020, Pages 139-151   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/gsc.v18i2.68988

Authors

R Sarwarzadeh; H. R Khazaei^* ; A Nezami

Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract

Introduction
In recent years regulated deficit irrigation as a part of conservation and saving practices in water consumption has received attention. Vegetative growth stage of corn has a relative tolerance to water deficit stress. Therefore, yield loss is negligible. Nitrogen shortage stress leads to decrease in leaf area, leaf senescence and reduction of photosynthesis as a result of decrease in chlorophyll content. Roots play an important role in soil searching for water and nutrients. Root ability to change soil biochemical and physiological processes consider as a remarkable mechanism to tolerate environmental stress. Considering the role of nitrogen in corn production and irrigation in summer crops, understanding the response of corn to water stress and nitrogen consumption level are important. Furthermore, corn growth recovery after water deficit stress is critical for better understanding of water saving techniques. This study designed to determine morphological change in root of corn and their effect on corn yield under different irrigation and nitrogen levels.
Materials and Methods
In order to evaluate the impact of different levels of nitrogen consumption and water deficit stress on corn (SC 704) in field condition, an experiment conducted during 2015 in the experimental field of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Nitrogen levels were, including 100 and 200 kg ha-1and irrigation applied in 6 levels, including W1: complete irrigation, W2: moderate water stress (55% of field capacity) at V4-V6 growth stage, W3: severe water stress (45% of field capacity) at V4-V6 growth stage, W4: moderate water stress (55% of field capacity) at V4-V6 growth stage followed by deficit irrigation (65% of field capacity), W5: severe water stress (45% of field capacity) in V4-V6 growth stage followed by deficit irrigation (65% of field capacity), W6: deficit irrigation (65% of field capacity) after V6 growth stage. Effect of water deficit stress and re-watering concurrently with two levels of nitrogen consumption attested by crop growth rate index between stress time and 10 days after rewatering. Furthermore at silking stage, SPAD, leaf area index, the number and angle of crown and brace roots, grain yield, agronomic nitrogen use efficiency, nitrogen uptake efficiency and nitrogen harvest index measured and calculated.
Results and Discussion
Result showed that under severe water stress re-watering at the same time with applying nitrogen led to faster growth. Effects of nitrogen and irrigation were significant on SPAD, leaf area index, the number of brace roots, grain yield, agronomic use efficiency and nitrogen uptake efficiency in 5% probability level, while effect of nitrogen on number of crown root, angle of crown root and number of lateral root in crown root were significant at 5% probability level (p-value < 0.05). Grain yield had a significant and positive correlation with leaf area index, the number of brace roots and SPAD, whereas yield had a negative correlation with brace root angle. Despite highest yield obtained under the consumption of 200 kg ha-1 nitrogen with complete irrigation, yield reduction due to water deficit at V4-V6 growth stage was 6% which shows the relative tolerance of corn to water deficit stress during aforementioned growth stage and effective tolerance of root and shoot of corn for minimizing the consequences of water stress on our experiment condition.
Conclusions
Although highest grain yield obtained with consumption of 200 kg ha-1 nitrogen with complete irrigation, flexible management with considering availability of water and nitrogen during vegetative growth stage lead to maximum profitability. Relative tolerance of corn seedling to water deficit stress and growth recovery of crop makes it possible to save water. Flexibility of corn root number and angle can be used in breeding program to obtain hybrids with more effective nitrogen use efficiency.

Keywords

Crown root angle; Brace root angle; Agronomic Nitrogen use efficiency

References

1. Ballester, C., Castel, J., Intrigliolo, D. S., and Castel, J. R. 2013. Response of Navel Lane Late citrus trees to regulated deficit irrigation: yield components and fruit composition. Irrigation Science 31: 333-341.

2. Benjamin, J. G., Nielsen, D. C., Vigil, M. F., Mikha, M. M., and Calderon, F. 2014. Water deficit stress effects on corn (Zea mays L.) root: shoot ratio. Open Journal of Soil Science 4: 151-160.

3. Bänziger, M., Edmeades, G. O., Beck, D., and Bellon, M. 2000. Breeding for Drought and Nitrogen Stress Tolerance in Maize: From Theory to Practice. Mexico, D.F. CIMMYT.PP.68.

4. Cheng, L. L., and Fuchigami, L. H. 2000. Rubisco activation state decreases with increasing nitrogen content in apple leaves. Experimental Botany 51: 1687-1694.

5. Ciampitti, I. A., and Vyn, T. J. 2011. A comprehensive study of plant density consequences on nitrogen uptake dynamics of maize plants from vegetative to reproductive stages. Field Crops Research 121: 2-18.

6. Criado, M. V., Caputo, C., Roberts, I. N., Castro, M. A., and Barneix, A. J. 2009. Cytokinin-induced changes of Nitrogen remobilization and chloroplast ultrastructure in wheat (Triticum aestivum). Journal of Plant Physiology 166: 1775-1785.

7. Delogu, G., Cativelli, L., Pecchioni, N., De Flacis, D., Maggiore, T., and Stanca, A. M. 1998. Uptake and agronomic efficiency of nitrogen in winter barley and winter wheat. European Journal of Agronomy 9: 11-20.

8. Feil, B., Moser, S. B., Jampatong, S., and Stamp, P. 2005. Mineral composition of the grain of tropical maize varieties as affected by pre-anthesis drought and rate of nitrogen fertilization. Crop Science 45: 516-523.

9. Fereres, E., and Soriano, M. A. 2007. Deficit irrigation for reducing agricultural water use. Journal of Experimental Botany 2: 147-159.

10. Finch-Savage, W. E., and Leubner-Metzger, G. 2006. Seed dormancy and the control of germination. New Phytology 171: 501-523.

11. Jensen, C. R., Orum, J. E., Pedersen, S. M., Andersen, M. N., Plauborg, F., Liu, F., and Jacobsen, S. E. 2014. A short overview of measures for securing water resources for irrigated crop production. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science 200: 33-343.

12. Intrigliolo, D. S., Bonet, L., Nortes, P. A., Puerto, H., Nicolas, E., and Bartual, J. 2013. Pomegranate trees performance under sustained and regulated deficit irrigation. Irrigation Science 31: 959-970.

13. Gao, K., Chen, F., Yuan, L., Zhang, F., and Mi, G. 2015. A comprehensive analysis of root morphological changes and nitrogen allocation in maize in response to low-nitrogen stress. Plant Cell Environment 38: 740-750.

14. Gaudin, A. C. M., McClymont, S. A., Holmes, B. M., Lyons, E., and Raizada, M. N. 2011. Novel temporal, fine-scale and growth variation phenotypes in roots of adult-stage maize (Zea mays L.) in response to low nitrogen stress. Plant Cell Environment 34: 2122-2137.

15. Hochholdinger, F., and Tuberosa, R. 2009. Genetic and genomic dissection of maize root development and architecture. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 12: 172-177.

16. Kano, M., Inukai, Y., Kitano, H., and Yamauchi, A. 2011. Root plasticity as the key root trait for adaptation to various intensities of drought stress in rice. Plant Soil 342: 117-128.

17. Koocheki, A., and Sarmadnia, G. H. 1998. Physiology of Crop Plants (translated). Jahad Daneshgahi Mashhad press, Mashhad, Iran. 400 p. (in Persian).

18. Luo, H. H., Han, H. Y., Zhang, Y. L., and Zhnag, W. F. 2013. Effects of drought and re-watering on endogenous hormone contents of cotton roots and leaves under drip irrigation with mulch. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology 24: 1009-1016. (in Chinese with English abstract).

19. Liao, H., Rubio, G., Yan, X. L., Cao, A. Q., Brown, K. M., and Lynch, J. P. 2001. Effect of phosphorus availability on basal root shallowness in common bean. Plant Soil 232: 69-79.

20. Mansouri-Far, S., Modares Sanavy, S. A. M., and Mohammadi, Kh. 2010. Effect of water deficit stress and Nitrogen on yield and compatibility metaabolites of two medium maturity corn cultivars. Journal of soil and water science 20: 29-45. (in Persian with English abstract).

21. Messmer, R., Frasheboud, Y., Banziger, M., Stamp, P., and Ribaut, J. M. 2011. Drought stress and tropical maize: QTLs for leaf greenness, plant senescence, and root capacitance. Field Crops Research 124: 93-103.

22. Moll, R. H., Kamprath, E. J., and Jackson, W. A. 1982. Analysis and interpretation of factors which contribute to efficiency of nitrogen utilization. Agronomy Journal 74: 562-564.

23. Nagel, K. A., Kastenholz, B., Jahnke, S., Van Dusschoten, D., Aach, T., Muhlich, M., Truhn, D., Scharr, H., Terjung, S., Walter, A., and Schurr, U. 2009. Temperature responses of roots: impact on growth, root system architecture and implications for phenotyping. Functional Plant Biology 36: 947-959.

24. Osborne, S. L., Scheppers, J. S., Francis, D. D., and Schlemmer, M. R. 2002. Use of spectral radiance to in -season biomass and grain yield in nitrogen and water- stressed corn. Crop Science 42:165-171.

25. Pandey, R. K., Maranville, J. W., and Chetima, M. M. 2000. Deficit irrigation and nitrogen effects on maize in a Sahelian environment II. Shoot growth, nitrogen uptake and water extraction. Agricultural Water Management 46: 15-27.

26. Peng, Y., Li, C., and Fritschi, F. B. 2014. Diurnal dynamics of maize leaf photosynthesis and carbohydrate concentrations in response to differential Nitrogen availability. Environmental and Experimental Botany 99: 18-27.

27. Rabbani, J., and Emam, Y. 2011. Yield response of maize hybrids to drought stress at different growth stages. Journal of Crop Production and Processing 2: 65-79. (in Persian with English abstract).

28. Schiffers, K., Tielborger, K., Tietjen, B., and Jeltsch, F. 2011. Root plasticity buffers competition among plants: theory meets experimental. Ecology 92: 610-620.

29. Trachsel, S., Kaeppler, S. M., Brown, K. M., and Lynch, J. P. 2011. Shovelomics: high throughput phenotyping of maize (Zea mays L.) root architecture in the field. Plant Soil 341: 75-87.

30. Trachsel, S., Kaeppler, S. M., Brown, K. M., and Lynch, J. P. 2013. Maize root growth angles become steeper under low N conditions. Field Crops Research 140: 18-31.

31. Uhart, S. A., and Andrade, F. H. 1995. Nitrogen deficiency in maize: I. Effects on crop growth, development, dry matter partitioning, and kernel set. Crop Science 35: 1376-1383.

32. Uribelarrea, M., Moose, S. P., and Below, F. E. 2007. Divergent selection for grain protein affects nitrogen use in maize hybrids. Field Crops Research 100: 82-90.

33. Uribelarrea, M., Crafts-Brandner, S. J., and Below, F. E. 2009. Physiological N response of field-grown maize hybrids (Zea mays L.) with divergent yield potential and grain protein concentration. Plant and Soil 316: 151-160.

34. Vidal, E. A., Tamayo, K. P., and Gutierrez, R. A. 2010. Gene networks for nitrogen sensing, signaling, and response in Arabidopsis thaliana. Wiley Interdisciplinary Review 2: 683-693.

35. Wang, X., Wang, J., Sun, R., Hou, X., Zhao, W., Shi, J., Zhang, Y., Qi, L., Li, X., Dong, P., Zhang, L., Xu, G., and Gan, H.. 2016. Correlation of the corn compensatory growth mechanism after post-drought rewatering with cytokinin induced by root nitrate absorption. Agricultural Water Management 166: 77-85.

36. Wu, Y. J., and Cosgrove, D. J. 2000. Adaptation of root to low water potentials by changes in cell wall extensibility and cell wall proteins. Journal of Experimental Botany 51: 1543-1553.

37. Zhu, J., Brown, K.M., and Lynch, J. P. 2010. Root cortical aerenchyma improves the drought tolerance of maize (Zea mays L.). Plant, Cell and Environment 33: 740-749.