Scientia Agricultura Sinica ›› 2019, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (2): 285-292.doi: 10.3864/j.issn.0578-1752.2019.02.008

• SOIL & FERTILIZER·WATER-SAVING IRRIGATION·AGROECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Response of Maize Roots to Different Additive Amounts of Weathered Coal Humic Acids

ZHOU LiPing,YUAN Liang,ZHAO BingQiang(),LI YanTing,LIN ZhiAn   

  1. Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081
  • Received:2018-09-10 Accepted:2018-10-25 Online:2019-01-16 Published:2019-01-21
  • Contact: BingQiang ZHAO E-mail:zhaobingqiang@caas.cn

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Abstract:

【Objective】 Weathered coal humic acid possesses abundant reserves in China, which has multiple active functional groups. The response of roots to humic acid, which acts as a humic acid acting on the first contact organ of plant, is the initial motive force to promote plant growth. Hence researching the effect of humic acid on the growth and development of maize roots is of significance for crops’ production increase and quality improvement, and can provide a theoretical basis for the effective utilization of weathered coal resource of China. 【Method】 Zhengdan958 maize cultivar was used as the tested cultivar, and Hogland nutrient solution hydroponics was adopted in this experiment. When maize seedlings grew to two leaves and one terminal bud, they were moved to the hydroponic basin for one day for readaption time. Then, the effect of applying different concentrations of humic acid (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mg C·L -1) on the growth of maize biomass, root-shoot ratio, root systematic architecture and root nutrient were studied. 【Result】 (1) Humic acids could significantly increase the root dry weight, shoot dry weight, root-shoot ratio, root activity, and root TTC reducing amount of maize roots. Compared with the control treatment (0 humic acid), the average value of the above indicators with humic acid treatment increased by 42.31%, 19.33%, 18.18%, 46.54%, and 81.01%, respectively. (2) Humic acid could improve the root morphology of maize roots by increasing root length, root number, root volume, root surface area, and average diameter of the maize roots. Compared with the control, the average value of the total root length, total root number, root volume, root surface area and average diameter of maize with humic acid treatment increased by 13.51%, 16.74%, 69.62%, 14.68%, and 49.28%, respectively. (3) The addition of humic acid increased the number of axial roots, length of axial roots and number of lateral roots in maize roots. The average value above of maize roots with the addition of humic acids increased by 16.28%, 21.65% and 16.80%, respectively, compared with the control treatments. (4) The promoting effect of humic acid on the growth of maize roots showed the tread of first increase and then decrease with the increasing additive amount of humic acid. When the medium concentration was 10 mg C/L, the promotion effect on maize roots was the most significant. Compared with the control, the root dry weight and root activity of maize roots increased by 69.36% and 69.07%, respectively. (5) The addition of humic acids (10 mg C·L -1) could increase the content of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, peptides, amino acids, and nucleic acids in maize roots. 【Conclusion】 The addition of humic acid could significantly increase the biomass, root activity and root-shoot ratio of maize. In addition, it could also improve the root architecture of the maize and the content of main chemical components in maize roots. The medium concentration (10 mg C·L -1) of humic acid had the most significant effect on the promotion of maize roots.

Key words: humic acid, maize, root, weathered coal, additive amount

Table 1

Effects of humic acids on maize dry matter weight"

处理
Treatment		 器官 Organs 总重
Total (g)		 根冠比
Root-shoot ratio
根Root (g) 地上部Shoot (g)
CK 0.26±0.02 c 1.19±0.14 b 1.45±0.14 c 0.22±0.03 a
HA1 0.31±0.05 bc 1.36±0.14 ab 1.67±0.16 bc 0.23±0.04 a
HA2 0.44±0.04 a 1.58±0.15 a 2.02±0.17 a 0.28±0.03 a
HA3 0.36±0.04 b 1.39±0.14 ab 1.74±0.15 b 0.26±0.04 a
HA4 0.38±0.04 ab 1.34±0.09 ab 1.72±0.08 bc 0.28±0.04 a
HA平均 Average 0.37 1.42 1.79 0.26
HA变异系数 CV 0.15 0.08 0.06 0.10

Table 2

Effects of humic acids on maize root activities"

处理
Treatment		 TTC还原强度
Root activity
(mg·g-1·h-1)		 TTC还原总量
Root TTC reducing amount (mg·h-1)
CK 2.17±0.34 c 9.95±2.42 d
HA1 2.80±0.11 b 14.37±1.31 c
HA2 3.67±0.23 a 23.49±0.65 a
HA3 3.23±0.15 ab 17.46±1.62 b
HA4 3.03±0.31 b 16.72±0.43 bc
HA平均 Average 3.18 18.01
HA变异系数 CV 0.12 0.22

Table 3

Effects of humic acids on maize root morphology"

处理
Treatment		 总根长
Total length (cm)		 总根数量
Total root number		 根体积
Root volume (cm3)		 根表面积
Root surface area (cm2)		 根平均直径
Root average diameter (mm)
CK 1418.40±52.42 c 759.00±42.53 c 2.32±0.10 d 88.75±1.66 c 2.18±0.18 c
HA1 1507.24±95.37 bc 832.33±61.44 bc 3.43±0.35 c 98.92±3.93 b 3.07±0.11 b
HA2 1769.85±100.90 a 993.67±71.16 a 4.50±0.16 a 112.03±7.17 a 3.53±0.13 a
HA3 1620.72±80.24 ab 877.33±60.53 b 4.01±0.40 ab 101.72±4.76 b 3.27±0.05 b
HA4 1542.45±83.97 bc 841.00±21.28 bc 3.80±0.24 bc 94.42±2.33 bc 3.16±0.15 b
HA平均 Average 1610.06 886.08 3.94 101.77 3.26
HA变异系数 CV 0.07 0.08 0.11 0.07 0.06

Fig. 1

The number and length of maize axial roots with different additive amounts of humic acids"

Fig. 2

Lateral root number and length root density of maize with different additive amounts of humic acids"

Fig. 3

FTIR spectra of maize roots with different additive amounts of humic acids"

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