Genotypic advantages of root-shoot growth alleviate grain yield reduction of maize (Zea mays L.) under various soil compactions

doi:10.1016/j.jia.2025.02.040

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Genotypic advantages of root-shoot growth alleviate grain yield reduction of maize (Zea mays L.) under various soil compactions

Lu Liang^1*, Zhuohan Gao^1*, Zaisong Ding¹, Wenchao Zhen², Zheng Liu¹, Congfeng Li¹, Ming Zhao¹, Xinbing Wang^1#, Baoyuan Zhou^1#

¹Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100081, China

²College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University/State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Baoding 071001, China

Highlights:

1. Heavy soil compaction decreased maize yield by 5.9-41.1%, while H hybrid had 12.0-30.3% greater yield advantage than M and L hybrids due to better root and shoot growth.

2. H hybrid had greater root length, root surface area, and root weight, as well as root activity, absorption and antioxidant capacity, and then increased leaf area index and dry matter accumulation, with increasing of 5.6-27.2% and 8.3-23.2% under heavy compaction, respectively.

3. Root growth advantages were more obviously than shoot growth for H hybrid under heavy compaction, leading to an increased root/shoot ratio.

Abstract
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摘要

土壤紧实是制约华北平原玉米进一步增产的重要因素。然而，不同品种玉米产量形成对土壤紧实胁迫的响应存在明显差异。为探究不同类型玉米品种对不同土壤紧实胁迫条件下的生理响应，我们对17个玉米品种进行了为期两年的田间试验。试验设置了三种土壤紧实胁迫处理：无紧实胁迫（NC，土壤容重SBD=1.0-1.3 g cm^-³）、中度紧实胁迫（MC，SBD=1.4-1.5 g cm^-³）和重度紧实胁迫（HC，SBD>1.6 g cm^-³）。在试验过程中，我们测定了玉米根和茎的形态、干物质积累以及产量。与NC相比，MC和HC分别造成玉米减产0.9-26.7%和5.9-41.1%。在HC条件下，高耐紧实胁迫品种（H）比中耐紧实胁迫品种（M）和低耐紧实胁迫品种（L）产量更高，主要是因为其根系和地上部生长更有优势。H类品种表现出较高的根长、根表面积和根重以及根系活性、吸收能力和抗氧化能力，从而增加了叶面积指数和干物质积累。此外，HC条件下H类品种根系生长指标的增幅大于地上部指标，因此其根冠比增加。由此可知，土壤紧实对玉米根系和地上部生长的影响因基因型而异，H类品种的根系生长优势比地上部更明显，因此能在重度紧实条件下获得较高的产量。

Abstract

Soil compaction has become a seriously limitation for further increasing grain yield of maize (Zea mays L.) in the North China Plain (NCP). However, considerable variability exists among maize hybrids in their grain yield response to soil compaction. To understand the physiological processes relate to the variation of responses to various soil compactions among maize hybrids, a two-year field experiment was conducted with 17 maize hybrids and three soil compaction treatments (NC, no compaction, SBD, soil bulk density=1.0-1.3 g cm^-3; MC, moderate compaction, SBD=1.4-1.5 g cm^-3, and HC, heavy compaction, SBD>1.6 g cm^-3) to examine the root and shoot morphological traits, dry matter accumulation, and grain yield. Compared to NC, MC and HC significantly decreased maize yield by 0.9-26.7% and 5.9-41.1% across hybrids and years, respectively. High compaction tolerance (H) had greater grain yield than hybrids of middle compaction tolerance (M) and low compaction tolerance (L), particularly under HC. Yield benefits obtained from H hybrid were enhanced due to better root and shoot growth under HC condition. Greater root length, root surface area, and root weight, as well as root activity, absorption capacity, and antioxidant capacity for H hybrid were found under HC condition, and then maintained increased leaf area index and dry matter accumulation. Moreover, the increases of root growth indices for H hybrid were greater than that of shoot growth, particularly under HC condition, leading to an increased root/shoot ratio. We conclude that soil compaction impacts maize root and shoot growth differently depending on genotype, and root growth advantages of H hybrid were more obviously than shoot growth, which enhanced the yield benefits from H hybrid under heavy compaction condition.

Keywords: maize hybrids soil compaction grain yield root growth shoot growth

Received: 22 October 2024 Online: 20 February 2025

Fund:

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFD2301502).

About author: #Correspondence Baoyuan Zhou, E-mail: zhoubaoyuan@caas.cn; Xinbing Wang, E-mail: wangxinbing@caas.cn *These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Lu Liang, Zhuohan Gao, Zaisong Ding, Wenchao Zhen, Zheng Liu, Congfeng Li, Ming Zhao, Xinbing Wang, Baoyuan Zhou. 2025. Genotypic advantages of root-shoot growth alleviate grain yield reduction of maize (Zea mays L.) under various soil compactions. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, Doi:10.1016/j.jia.2025.02.040

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