Nitrogen reduction combined with ETc irrigation maintained summer maize yield and increased water and nitrogen use efficiency.

Introduction: High rainfall and excessive urea application are counterproductive to summer maize growth requirements and lower grain yield and water/nitrogen (N) use efficiency. The objective of this study was to determine whether ETc irrigation based on summer maize demand and reduced nitrogen rate in the Huang Huai Hai Plain increased water and nitrogen use efficiency without sacrificing yield. Methods: To achieve this, we conducted an experiment with four irrigation levels [ambient rainfall (I0) and 50% (I1), 75% (I2), and 100% (I3) of actual crop evapotranspiration (ETc)] and four nitrogen rates [no nitrogen fertilizer (N0), recommended nitrogen rate of urea (NU), recommended nitrogen rate of blending controlled-release urea with conventional urea fertilizer (BCRF) (NC), and reduced nitrogen rate of BCRF (NR)] in 2016-2018. Results: The results show that reduced irrigation and nitrogen rate reduced Fv/Fm, 13C-photosynthate, and nitrogen accumulation both in the kernel and plant. I3NC and I3NU accumulated higher 13C-photosynthate, nitrogen, and dry matter. However, 13C-photosynthate and nitrogen distribution to the kernel was decreased from I2 to I3 and was higher in BCRF than in urea. I2NC and I2NR promoted their distribution to the kernel, resulting in a higher harvest index. Compared with I3NU, I2NR increased root length density by 32.8% on average, maintaining considerable leaf Fv/Fm and obtaining similar kernel number and kernel weight. The higher root length density of I2NR of 40-60 cm promoted 13C-photosynthate and nitrogen distribution to the kernel and increased the harvest index. As a result, the water use efficiency (WUE) and nitrogen agronomic use efficiency (NAUE) in I2NR increased by 20.5%-31.9% and 11.0%-38.0% than that in I3NU, respectively. Discussion: Therefore, 75%ETc deficit irrigation and BCRF fertilizer with 80% nitrogen rate improved root length density, maintained leaf Fv/Fm in the milking stage, promoted 13C-photosynthate, and distributed nitrogen to the kernel, ultimately providing a higher WUE and NAUE without significantly reducing grain yield.

On correlation between canopy vegetation and growth indexes of maize varieties with different nitrogen efficiencies.

Studying the canopy spectral reflection characteristics of different N-efficient maize varieties and analyzing the relationship between their growth indicators and spectral vegetation indices can help the breeding and application of N-efficient maize varieties. To achieve the optimal management of N fertilizer resources, developing N-efficient maize varieties is necessary. In this research, maize varieties, i.e., the low-N-efficient (Zhengdan 958, ZD958), the high-N efficient (Xianyu 335, XY335), the double-high varieties (Qiule 368, QL368), and the double inefficient-type varieties (Yudan 606 YD606), were used as materials. Results indicate that nitrogen fertilization significantly increased the vegetation indices NDVI, GNDVI, GOSAVI, and RVI of maize varieties with different nitrogen efficiencies. These findings were consistent with the performance of yield, dry matter mass, and leaf nitrogen content and were also found highest under both medium and high nitrogen conditions in the double-high variety QL368. The correlations of dry matter quality, leaf nitrogen content, yield, and vegetation indices (NDVI, GNDVI, RVI, and GOSAVI) at the filling stage of different N-efficient maize varieties were all highly significant and positive. In this relationship, the best effect was found at the filling stages, with correlation coefficients reaching 0.772-0.942, 0.774-0.970, 0754-0.960, and 0.800-0.960. The results showed that the yield, dry matter weight, and leaf nitrogen content of maize varieties with different nitrogen efficiencies increased first and then stabilized with the increase in the nitrogen application level in different periods, and the highest nitrogen application level of maize yield should be between 270 and 360 kg/hm2. At the filling stage, canopy vegetation index of maize varieties with different nitrogen efficiencies was positively correlated with yield, dry matter weight, and leaf nitrogen content, especially GNDVI and GOSAVI on the leaf nitrogen content. It can be used as a means to predict its growth index.

Comparative transcriptomic reveals the molecular mechanism of maize hybrid Zhengdan538 in response to water deficit.

Heterosis, known as one of the most successful strategies for increasing grain yield and abiotic/biotic stress tolerance, has been widely exploited in maize breeding. However, the underlying molecular processes are still to be elucidated. The maize hybrid "Zhengdan538" shows high tolerance to drought stress. The transcriptomes of the seedling leaves of its parents, "ZhengA88" and "ZhengT22" and their reciprocal F1 hybrid under well-watered and water deficit conditions, were analyzed by RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). Transcriptome profiling of the reciprocal hybrid revealed 2994-4692 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under well-watered and water-deficit conditions, which were identified by comparing with their parents. The reciprocal hybrid was more closely related to the parental line "ZhengT22" than to the parental line "ZhengA88" in terms of gene expression patterns under water-deficit condition. Furthermore, genes showed expression level dominance (ELD), especially the high-parental ELD (Class 3 and 5), accounted for the largest proportion of DEGs between the reciprocal F1 hybrid and their parental lines under water deficit. These ELD genes mainly participated in photosynthesis, energy biosynthesis, and metabolism processes. The results indicated that ELD genes played important roles in hybrid tolerance to water deficit. Moreover, a set of important drought-responsive transcription factors were found to be encoded by the identified ELD genes and are thought to function in improving drought tolerance in maize hybrid plants. Our results provide a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of drought tolerance in hybrid maize.

Molecular mapping of quantitative trait loci for 3 husk traits using genotyping by sequencing in maize (Zea mays L.).

The maize (Zea mays L.) husk consists of multiple leaf layers and plays an important role in grain growth and development. Despite significant achievements in physiological and morphological research, few studies have focused on the detection of genetic loci underlying husk-related traits due to the lack of efficient tools. In this study, we constructed an ultra-high-density linkage map using genotyping by sequencing based on a recombinant inbred line population to estimate the genetic variance and heritability of 3 husk traits, i.e. husk length, husk width, and husk layer number in 3 field environments and the combined environment. The 3 husk traits showed broad phenotypic variation and high heritability; the broad-sense heritability (H2) was 0.92, 0.84, and 0.86. Twenty quantitative trait loci were consistently detected more than 1 environment, including 9 for husk length, 6 for husk width, and 5 for husk layer number. These loci were considered as stable quantitative trait loci. Based on the quantitative trait loci mapping in the recombinant inbred line population, qHL6 and qHN4 were detected across all environments and inferred to be reliable and major-effect quantitative trait loci for husk length and husk layer number, respectively. In addition, several predicted candidate genes were identified in the region of qHL6 and qHN4, of which 17 candidate genes potentially play a role in biological processes related to development process and energy metabolism. These results will be as a useful resource for performing functional studies aimed at understanding the molecular pathways involved in husk growth and development.

A Study on the Static Magnetic and Electromagnetic Properties of Silica-Coated Carbonyl Iron Powder after Heat Treatment for Improving Thermal Stability.

In order to study the thermal stability of coated carbonyl iron powder (CIP) and its influence on magnetic properties, carbonyl iron powder was coated with a silica layer and then annealed in an air atmosphere at elevated temperatures. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the existence of a silicon dioxide layer with a thickness of approximately 80~100 nm. Compared with uncoated CIP, the silicon-coated CIP still maintained a higher absorption performance after annealing, and the calculated impedance matching value Z only slightly decreased. It is worth noting that when the annealing temperature reached 300 °C, coercivity (Hc) increased, and the real and imaginary parts of the permeability decreased, which means that the silicon dioxide layer began to lose its effectiveness. On the contrary, the significant decrease in microwave absorption ability and impedance matching value Z of uncoated CIP after annealing were mainly because the newly formed oxide on the interface became the active polarization center, leading to an abnormal increase in permittivity. In terms of the incremental mass ratio after annealing, 2% was a tipping point for permeability reduction.

Bulk analysis by resequencing and RNA-seq identifies candidate genes for maintaining leaf water content under water deficit in maize.

Drought is one of the main abiotic stresses adversely affecting maize growth and grain yield. Identifying drought tolerance-related genes and breeding varieties with enhanced tolerance are effective strategies for minimizing the effects of drought stress. In this study, the leaf relative water content (LRWC) was used for evaluating drought tolerance. QTL-seq analysis of 419 F2 individuals from a cross between ZhengT22 (the drought-tolerant line with high LRWC) and ZhengA88 (the drought-sensitive line with low LRWC) revealed four LRWC-related QTLs (qLRWC2, qLRWC10a, qLRWC10b, and qLRWC10c) in maize seedlings under water deficit. Of these QTLs, qLRWC2 was located in a 2.03-Mb interval on chromosome 2, whereas qLRWC10a, qLRWC10b, and qLRWC10c were located in 2.85-, 3.99-, and 2.05-Mb intervals, respectively, on chromosome 10, and the 93 genes contained the variation loci locating in the four QTLs regions. To identify the candidate genes within the QTLs, an RNA-seq analysis was performed for the parents exposed to water deficit. Seven genes with effective variation loci showed significant difference in expression either in ZhengA88 or ZhengT22 in response to water deficit. Moreover, among the genes, ZmPrx64, ZmCIPK, HSP90, and ABCG34 have all been shown to be related to water stress in the previous studies. Thus, they are primary considered as the potential candidate genes controlling LRWC under water deficit at the seeding stage of maize in this study. These findings will help clarify the molecular basis of drought tolerance in maize seedlings and may be relevant for future functional analysis and for breeding drought-tolerant maize varieties.

Molecular mapping of quantitative trait loci for grain moisture at harvest and field grain drying rate in maize (Zea mays L.).

Maize (Zea mays L.) grain moisture (GM) at harvest is an important trait that affects seed preservation during storage, grain quality and artificial drying costs. To date, most of the work on understanding GM dynamics in maize has focused on the grain filling period, while the period of postmaturity grain drying remains unexplored. The field grain drying rate (FDR) is one of the most important factors in determining GM at harvest. Therefore, understanding the genetic basis of FDR will be useful for obtaining low-GM varieties. In this study, a single-cross population (330 F2:3 -generation plants) derived from a cross of two divergent inbred lines was evaluated in two planting environments with a measurement method - Area under the Dry Down Curve (AUDDC). A high-density genetic linkage map of 2491 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci covering 2415.56 cM was constructed. Using composite interval mapping, four quantitative trait loci (QTL), q45dGM1-1, qHTGM2-2, qAUDDC2-1 and qAUDDC10-1, which were detected on chromosomes 1, 2 and 10, were stable across environments and could explain more than 10% of phenotypic variance. These may be the major QTLs, with non-significant environmental interactions for GM at 45 days, GM at harvest and FDR, respectively. Additionally, several predicted candidate genes for FDR were identified, including several transcription factors, hormone responsive genes, energy-related and DNA replication-related genes. These results will provide useful information for our understanding of the genetic basis of FDR, as well as providing tools for marker-assisted selection in maize breeding.

[Effects of tillage and straw returning on microorganism quantity, enzyme activities in soils and grain yield].

A two-year field study with split plot design was conducted to investigate the effects of different soil tillage (conventional tillage, CT; deep tillage, DT; subsoil tillage, ST) and straw returning (all straw retention, AS; no straw returning, NS) on microorganism quantity, enzyme activities in soil and grain yield. The results showed that, deep or subsoil tillage and straw returning not only reduced the soil bulk density and promoted the content of organic carbon in soil, but increased the soil microbial quantity, soil enzyme activities and grain yield. Furthermore, such influences in maize season were greater than that in wheat season. Compared with CT+NS, DT+AS and ST+AS decreased the soil bulk density at 20-30 cm depth by 8.5% and 6.6%, increased the content of soil organic carbon by 14.8% and 12.4%, increased the microorganism quantity by 45.9% and 33.9%, increased the soil enzyme activities by 34.1% and 25.5%, increased the grain yield by 18.0% and 19.3%, respectively. No significant difference was observed between DT+AS and ST+AS. We concluded that retaining crop residue and deep or subsoil tillage improved soil microorganism quantity, enzyme activities and crop yield.

Effects of deep tillage and straw returning on soil microorganism and enzyme activities.

Two field experiments were conducted for two years with the aim of studying the effects of deep tillage and straw returning on soil microorganism and enzyme activity in clay and loam soil. Three treatments, (1) conventional tillage (CT), shallow tillage and straw returning; (2) deep tillage (DT), deep tillage and straw returning; and (3) deep tillage with no straw returning (DNT), were carried out in clay and loam soil. The results showed that deep tillage and straw returning increased the abundance of soil microorganism and most enzyme activities. Deep tillage was more effective for increasing enzyme activities in clay, while straw returning was more effective in loam. Soil microorganism abundance and most enzyme activities decreased with the increase of soil depth. Deep tillage mainly affected soil enzyme activities in loam at the soil depth of 20-30 cm and in clay at the depth of 0-40 cm. Straw returning mainly affected soil microorganism and enzyme activities at the depths of 0-30 cm and 0-40 cm, respectively.