Leaf and pod growth affect seed yield after shoot removal and different nitrogen rates of dual-purpose rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

doi:10.1016/j.jia.2025.04.035

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Leaf and pod growth affect seed yield after shoot removal and different nitrogen rates of dual-purpose rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

Xiaoyong Li¹, Wei Huang², Zhiyuan Yang³, Wei Hu¹, Zhiguo Zhou¹, Binglin Chen^1#

¹ College of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University/Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production Cosponsored by Province and Ministry, Nanjing 210095, China
²Huanggang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Huanggang 438000, China
³Yingcheng Agro-technical Extension Center, Yingcheng 432400, China

Highlights:

1. Nitrogen (N) application compensated for shoot removal-induced yield loss but reduced N use efficiency (NUE), while simultaneously enhancing pod growth and carbon metabolism in dual-purpose rapeseed.

2. A higher amino acid/soluble sugar ratio in pod walls promoted seed protein accumulation but decreased oil content.

3. The seed oil yield under SR with 270 kg N ha⁻¹ was nearly equal to that under CK with 90 kg N ha⁻¹.

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摘要

油菜作为一种多功能作物，可以摘薹作为蔬菜。摘薹会导致产量降低，而增施氮肥能带来增产效益。然而，摘薹后施氮量对角果生长、氮肥利用效率（NUE）及籽粒产量的影响尚不明晰。本研究开展为期两年的田间试验，设置四个施氮水平（0 [N0]、90 [N1]、180 [N2] 和 270 [N3] kg ha⁻¹）以及两种摘薹处理（不摘薹 [CK]、摘薹 [SR]）。结果表明，在不同施氮水平下，摘薹均降低成熟期的群体生物量（PB）。但施氮不仅可增加摘薹后的群体生物量，还提高了菜薹中的可溶性糖和蛋白质含量。摘薹增加每角果粒数（13.5% - 26.9%），减少单株角果数（33.1% - 45.8%），降低油菜籽粒产量（19.5% - 38.4%）。而施氮有效地提高了产量相关指标，在不摘薹条件下使籽粒产量增加了 187.2% - 465.0%，在摘薹条件下籽粒产量增加 185.6% - 430.7%。并且，在不同摘薹处理下，施氮量为N3时籽粒产量均达到最高。在摘薹后 20 天，单位面积叶片氮含量（N_a）和净光合速率（Pn）有所增加，但叶片光合氮利用效率（PNUE）降低，从而导致氮肥利用效率（NUE）显著下降。在成熟期，虽然氮素供应增加了植株各器官的氮含量和群体生物量，但降低了NUE。在摘薹和高氮处理下，角果壳在开花后 25 天的净光合速率升高，这归因于摘薹和高施氮量优化了叶绿体超微结构以及核酮糖 - 1,5 - 二磷酸羧化酶（rubisco）和蔗糖合成酶（SuSy）活性。然而，角果壳中较高的氨基酸 / 可溶性糖含量比值（A/S）显著提高了籽粒中蛋白质含量，降低了油脂含量。尽管 SR×N3 处理下的油脂产量相较于 CK×N3 处理降低了 63.8% - 71.0%，但与 CK×N1处理油脂产量相当。研究结果表明，增施氮肥可改善角果壳碳代谢，缓解摘薹后的产量损失，但会降低油菜的氮肥利用效率和籽粒含油量。本研究结果为平衡油菜菜薹与籽粒协同生产，优化氮肥施用技术，实现可持续、高效的油菜种植提供了指导。

Abstract

As a multifunctional crop, rapeseed provides vegetables by picking shoots. Shoot removal reduced yield, while nitrogen (N) application results in efficiency gains. However, the effect of N rate on pod growth, N use efficiency (NUE) and seed yield after shoot removal is unclear. A 2-year field experiment was set with four N rates (0 [N0], 90 [N1], 180 [N2], and 270 [N3] kg ha^-1) and two shoot treatments (no shoot removal [CK], shoot removal [SR]). Results showed the shoot removal decreased population biomass (PB) at maturity across all N levels. Conversely, N application increased the PB after shoot removal and elevated soluble sugar and protein in shoots. Shoot removal increased the seeds per pod (13.5-26.9%), reduced the pods per plant (33.1-45.8%) and population seed yield (19.5-38.4%). N application effectively increased the yield related index, and led to an increase in population seed yield by 187.2 - 465.0% in the CK group, and by 185.6 - 430.7% in the SR group. Moreover, the seed yield reached its maximum under the N3 in both groups. The leaf N content per area (N_a) and net photosynthetic rate (P_n) were increased, but leaf photosynthetic N use efficiency (PNUE) were decreased at 20 days after shoot removal, which lead to a significant decrease in N use efficiency(NUE). N supply increased the plant organ N content and PB, but decreased the NUE at maturity stage. P_n of the pod wall at 25 days after flowering was elevated due to its optimized chloroplasts ultrastructure and increased rubisco and sucrose synthase activities under shoot removal and more N. However, the greater amino acid/soluble sugar ratio (A/S) of the pod wall significantly increased the seed protein content and decreased the oil content. Though the oil yield was reduced by 63.8-71.0% under SR×N3 treatment compared with CK×N3, it was comparable to that of CK with 90 kg N ha^-1 treatment. The results indicated that N applying improves the carbon metabolism of the pod wall and alleviates yield reduction after shoot removal but reduces NUE and seed oil content of rapeseed. The findings guide the balancing of rapeseed’s vegetable and oil production, and optimize N fertilization for sustainable, efficient rapeseed farming.

Keywords: rapeseed shoot removal nitrogen yield NUE seed quality

Received: 12 January 2025 Online: 25 April 2025

Fund:

The study was funded by the Jiangsu Agriculture Science and Technology Innovation Fund, China (CX(22)2015) and China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-15-14).

About author: #Correspondence Binglin Chen, E-mail: blchen@njau.edu.cn

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Xiaoyong Li, Wei Huang, Zhiyuan Yang, Wei Hu, Zhiguo Zhou, Binglin Chen. 2025. Leaf and pod growth affect seed yield after shoot removal and different nitrogen rates of dual-purpose rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). Journal of Integrative Agriculture, Doi:10.1016/j.jia.2025.04.035

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