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Monitoring Nitrogen Leaf Resorption Kinetics by Near‐Infrared Spectroscopy during Grain Filling in Durum Wheat in Different Nitrogen Availability Conditions
Author(s) -
Vilmus Ingrid,
Ecarnot Martin,
Verzelen Nicolas,
Roumet Pierre
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci2013.02.0099
Subject(s) - resorption , nitrogen , agronomy , photosynthesis , yield (engineering) , chemistry , zoology , horticulture , biology , botany , materials science , organic chemistry , metallurgy , endocrinology
In wheat ( Triticum spp.), the N content of leaves during the grain filling period (GFP) plays a key role in maintaining photosynthetic activity and determining the amount of N available for grain protein content (GPC). We documented flag N leaf resorption in durum wheat ( Triticum turgidum L.) plants under a nonlimiting level of N in 2010 and under two different levels of N fertilization in 2011. During the GFP, we monitored changes in flag leaf N content by a nondestructive method based on near‐infrared spectroscopy. The datasets were modeled for each plant; parameters were extracted and analyzed to determine which source of variation (genotype and/or N availability) predominated. Different genotypic profiles were highlighted opposing Ixos versus Primadur when comparing two different levels of N availability, with Ixos flag leaves being the most affected by a low level of N preanthesis. High postanthesis N availability delayed the beginning of N resorption (t0) and there was a strong negative correlation between t0 and the resorption duration. Delayed N resorption was associated with better grain yield components. A high proportion of the variation of grain yield per spike and GPC was explained by multiple linear regressions combining the width of the flag leaf and N dynamic parameters under the nonlimiting N availability. The negative correlation between yield and GPC may result from the initiation of N resorption during grain filling, potentially increasing yield if delayed or increasing GPC if occurring early.