Climate warming causes an impact on the protein supplied to grains by affecting the winter wheat growth period and yield formation; however, research on the effects of warming on protein formation of winter wheat grains is limited. We investigated this phenomenon by conducting no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) field warming trials in the North China Plain for four consecutive years (2017–2020). The results showed that warming significantly advanced the re-greening period and extended the effective growth period of winter wheat. Warming also improved the physiological characteristics of winter wheat as well as N accumulation in the stems and leaves during anthesis, facilitating the transport of N to the grains. Moreover, warming reduced the number of fertile spikelets in winter wheat and diverted N that would otherwise be supplied to produce more grains to the final effective grains, resulting in a significant increase in grain protein content (15.75% in CT, 19.11% in NT; p < 0.05). Our findings suggest that winter wheat can partially counteract the adverse effects of climate warming on its grain protein content. This study further elucidates the effect of climate warming on the protein content of winter wheat grains.

气候变暖通过影响冬小麦的生育期和产量形成，对谷物的蛋白质供应产生影响；然而，关于增温对冬小麦籽粒蛋白质形成影响的研究还很有限。我们通过连续四年（2017-2020）在华北平原进行免耕（NT）和常规耕作（CT）增温试验来调查这一现象。结果表明，增温显着提前了冬小麦的返青期，延长了冬小麦的有效生育期。增温还改善了冬小麦的生理特性以及开花期茎叶中氮素的积累，促进了氮素向籽粒的运输。而且，p  < 0.05）。我们的研究结果表明，冬小麦可以部分抵消气候变暖对其谷物蛋白质含量的不利影响。本研究进一步阐明了气候变暖对冬小麦籽粒蛋白质含量的影响。