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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2026, Vol. 25 Issue (9): 3619-3628    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2025.02.040
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Genotypic advantages of root–shoot growth alleviate the grain yield reduction of maize (Zea mays L.) under various soil compaction levels

Lu Liang1*, Zhuohan Gao1*, Zaisong Ding1, Wenchao Zhen2, Zheng Liu1, Congfeng Li1, Ming Zhao1, Xinbing Wang1#, Baoyuan Zhou1#

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

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

 Highlights 
Heavy soil compaction reduced maize yield by 5.9–41.1%, while high compaction tolerance (H) hybrids had 12.0–30.3% greater yield advantages than the middle compaction tolerance (M) and low compaction tolerance (L) hybrids due to better root and shoot growth.
Under heavy compaction, the selected H hybrid had greater root length, root surface area, and root weight, as well as root activity, absorption and antioxidant capacity, which increased leaf area index and dry matter accumulation, with increases of 5.6–27.2% and 8.3–23.2%, respectively.
Root growth advantages were more obvious than shoot growth for the H hybrid under heavy compaction, leading to a greater root/shoot ratio.
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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MCSBD=1.4-1.5 g cm-³)和重度紧实胁迫HCSBD>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,MCHC分别造成玉米减产0.9-26.7%5.9-41.1%。在HC条件下耐紧实胁迫品种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,土壤实对玉米根和地上部生长的影响因基因型而异,H类品种的根生长优势比地上部更明显,因此能在重度实条件下获得较高的产量。



Abstract  

Soil compaction has become a serious limitation for further increasing the grain yield of maize (Zea mays L.) in the North China Plain (NCP).  However, considerable variability exists among maize hybrids in their grain yield responses to soil compaction.  To understand the physiological processes related to the variation of responses among maize hybrids to different soil compaction levels, a two-year field experiment was conducted with 17 maize hybrids and three soil compaction treatments (NC, no compaction with soil bulk density (SBD) of 1.0–1.3 g cm–3; MC, moderate compaction with SBD of 1.4–1.5 g cm–3, and HC, heavy compaction with 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 reduced the maize yield by 0.9–26.7% and 5.9–41.1% across the hybrids and years, respectively.  Hybrids with high compaction tolerance (H) had greater grain yield than those with middle compaction tolerance (M) and low compaction tolerance (L), particularly under HC.  The yield benefits obtained from the H hybrid were enhanced due to better root and shoot growth under HC conditions.  Greater root length, root surface area, and root weight, as well as root activity, absorption capacity, and antioxidant capacity for H hybrid was found under HC conditions, and it also showed increased leaf area index and dry matter accumulation.  Moreover, the increases in root growth indices for the H hybrid were greater than that of shoot growth, particularly under HC conditions, leading to a greater root/shoot ratio.  We conclude that soil compaction impacts maize root and shoot growth differently depending on genotype, and the root growth advantages of the H hybrid were more obvious than shoot growth, which enhanced the yield benefits from the H hybrid under heavy compaction conditions.

Keywords:  maize hybrids       soil compaction        grain yield       root growth        shoot growth  
Received: 22 October 2024   Accepted: 20 January 2025 Online: 20 February 2025  
Fund: 

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFD2301502) and the China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-02-14).

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

Cite this article: 

Lu Liang, Zhuohan Gao, Zaisong Ding, Wenchao Zhen, Zheng Liu, Congfeng Li, Ming Zhao, Xinbing Wang, Baoyuan Zhou. 2026. Genotypic advantages of root–shoot growth alleviate the grain yield reduction of maize (Zea mays L.) under various soil compaction levels. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 25(9): 3619-3628.

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