Post-anthesis dry matter and nitrogen accumulation, partitioning, and translocation in maize under different nitrate-ammonium ratios in Northwestern China

Bing Wu; Zhengjun Cui; Effah Zechariah; Lizhuo Guo; Yuhong Gao; Bin Yan; Hongsheng Liu; Yifan Wang; Haidi Wang; Li Li

doi:10.3389/fpls.2024.1257882

Post-anthesis dry matter and nitrogen accumulation, partitioning, and translocation in maize under different nitrate-ammonium ratios in Northwestern China

Front Plant Sci. 2024 Mar 19:15:1257882. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1257882. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Bing Wu^{1

2}, Zhengjun Cui^{2

3}, Effah Zechariah⁴, Lizhuo Guo^{2

5}, Yuhong Gao^{2

5}, Bin Yan^{2

5}, Hongsheng Liu⁶, Yifan Wang^{2

5}, Haidi Wang^{2

5}, Li Li⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Lanzhou, China.
³ College of Agronomy, Tarim University, Alar, China.
⁴ Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute, Bunso, Ghana.
⁵ College of Agronomy, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China.
⁶ Huining Promotion Center of Agricultural Technology, Huinning, China.
⁷ Baiyin Promotion Center of Agricultural Technology, Baiyin, China.

Abstract

Introduction: An appropriate supply of ammonium (NH4+) in addition to nitrate (NO3-) can greatly improve plant growth and promote maize productivity. However, knowledge gaps exist regarding the mechanisms by which different nitrogen (N) fertilizer sources affect the enzymatic activity of nitrogen metabolism and non-structural carbohydrates during the post-anthesis period.

Methods: A field experiment across 3-year was carried out to explore the effects of four nitrateammonium ratio (NO3-/NH4+ = 1:0 (N1), 1:1 (N2), 1:3 (N3), and 3:1 (N4)) on postanthesis dry matter (DM) and N accumulation, partitioning, transportation, and grain yield in maize.

Results: NO3-/NH4+ ratio with 3:1 improved the enzymatic activity of N metabolism and non-structural carbohydrate accumulation, which strongly promoted the transfer of DM and N in vegetative organs to reproductive organs and improved the pre-anthesis DM and nitrogen translocation efficiency. The enzymatic activities of nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, glutamine synthetase, glutamine oxoglutarate aminotransferase, and non-structural carbohydrate accumulation under N4 treatment were increased by 9.30%-32.82%, 13.19%-37.94%, 4.11%-16.00%, 11.19%-30.82%, and 14.89%-31.71% compared with the other treatments. Mixed NO3--N and NH4+-N increased the total DM accumulation at the anthesis and maturity stages, simultaneously decreasing the DM partitioning of stem, increasing total DM, DM translocation efficiency (DMtE), and contribution of pre-anthesis assimilates to the grain (CAPG) in 2015 and 2017, promoting the transfer of DM from stem to grain. Furthermore, the grain yield increased by 3.31%-9.94% (2015), 68.6%-26.30% (2016), and 8.292%-36.08% (2017) under the N4 treatment compared to the N1, N2, and N3 treatments.

Conclusion: The study showed that a NO3-/NH4+ ratio of 3:1 is recommended for high-yield and sustainable maize management strategies in Northwestern China.

Keywords: dry matter and nitrogen partitioning and transportation; enzymatic activity; grain yield; maize; mixed NO3−/NH4+.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Research Program Sponsored by State Key Laboratory of Arid Land Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University (GSCS-2020-Z6), the Fuxi Outstanding Talent Cultivation Plan of Gansu Agriculture University (Gaufx-02J05), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31460331), and the Research and demonstration Program on the Optimization of the Construction Path of Maize Industry System and Quality and Efficiency Enhancement Technology for Productive Cultivation in Baiyin City (2022-2-9N).