Effects of water deficit and nitrogen application on leaf gas exchange, phytohormone signaling, biomass and water use efficiency of oat plants
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Background: Water and nitrogen (N) are essential resources influencing plant growth and yield. To improve their efficiencies in crop production is challenging because the physiological mechanisms of water and N coupling and their interactive effect on crop water use efficiency (WUE) are not well understood yet.
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological responses and phytohormones signaling in oats in response to soil water status and N supply under fertigation, to explore the mechanisms regulating plant growth and WUE.
Methods: Oat plants were subjected to the factorial combination of three soil moisture regimes (50, 70, and 90% of soil water holding capacity, SWHC) and three N levels (fertilized with 74, 149, and 298 mg kg(-1)).
Results: The stomatal conductance (g(s)) was significantly decreased by soil water deficit, and also by the highest N level, whereas photosynthesis rate (A(n)) was unaffected by neither water nor N. Consequently, intrinsic WUE (WUEint, A(n)/g(s)) was highest under reduced irrigation and high N fertilization. This effect at stomatal level was affirmed by responses in whole plant WUE (WUEb), which was positively correlated with shoot delta C-13. A positive correlation between delta O-18 and delta C-13 in shoots further indicated that decreases of g(s)rather than changes in A(n)contributed to the enhanced WUE.
Conclusion: Moderate soil water deficit and sufficient N supply is recommended for saving irrigation water and improving WUE on fertigated oat plants without compromising biomass accumulation to any large extent.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science |
Volume | 183 |
Issue number | 6 |
Pages (from-to) | 695-704 |
Number of pages | 10 |
ISSN | 1436-8730 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |
- delta C-13, drought stress, nitrogen, phytohormone, CARBON-ISOTOPE DISCRIMINATION, SOLANUM-TUBEROSUM L., STOMATAL CONDUCTANCE, ABSCISIC-ACID, TRANSPIRATION EFFICIENCY, HORMONAL CHANGES, STABLE OXYGEN, WINTER-WHEAT, DURUM-WHEAT, ROOT-GROWTH
Research areas
ID: 249858865