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Molybdenum supply increases root system growth of winter wheat by enhancing nitric oxide accumulation and expression of NRT genes

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Abstract

Aims

Increasing evidence shows that root system growth is strongly affected by different nitrogen (N) signals and the available N source in the rhizosphere. Molybdenum (Mo), an essential trace element, plays a key role in N assimilation and metabolism. However, Mo efficacy may vary with different N sources. The present experiment was performed to examine the Mo role on root system growth in winter wheat under different N sources.

Methods

A hydroponic experiment was conducted consisting of two winter wheat cultivars; Mo-efficient (97003) and Mo-inefficient (97014) under two Mo levels (0 and 1 μM) and three N sources (NO3−, NH4NO3 or NH4+).

Results

The results showed that Mo supply increased root dry weight and other morphological traits, nitrate reductase (NR) activities, nitric oxide (NO) contents, total N concentration and the expressions of nitrate transporter (NRT) genes under various N sources, however, such effects were in the order of NH4NO3 > NO3− > NH4+, suggesting that Mo fertilizer shows more complementary effects towards NO3− form of N than sole NH4+ in winter wheat.

Conclusions

These findings imply that Mo plays a significant role in increasing the root system growth of wheat through NO production, efficient N uptake and assimilation, and regulation of NRT gene expressions, especially under NH4NO3 nutrition.

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Abbreviations

Mo:

Molybdenum

N:

Nitrogen

NO3 − -N:

Nitrate

NH4 +-N:

Ammonium

NH4NO3 :

Ammonium nitrate

NO:

Nitric oxide

NRT :

Nitrate transporters

NR:

Nitrate reductase

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0200108), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Program No. 41771329) and the 948 Project from the Ministry of Agriculture of China (2016-X41).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Imran & Xiangru Tang

  2. Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Imran, Xuecheng Sun, Muhammad Shoaib Rana, Imran Khan & Chengxiao Hu

  3. Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, 38040, Pakistan

    Saddam Hussain

  4. College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Hamzah Saleem

  5. Root Biology Center, College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Riaz

  6. Micro-element Research Center of Huazhong, Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People’s Republic of China

    Chengxiao Hu

Authors
  1. Muhammad Imran
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  2. Xuecheng Sun
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  3. Saddam Hussain
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  4. Muhammad Shoaib Rana
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  5. Muhammad Hamzah Saleem
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  6. Muhammad Riaz
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  7. Xiangru Tang
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  8. Imran Khan
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  9. Chengxiao Hu
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Contributions

Muhammad Imran: Conceived and designed the experiment, wrote the manuscript; Xuecheng Sun and Chengxiao Hu: Project administration, funding and visualization. Muhammad Hamzah Saleem, Muhammad Shoaib Rana and Muhammad Riaz: conducted the experiment and helped in replacing nutrient solution; Xiangru Tang and Imran Khan: Formal analysis, data analysis; Saddam Hussain and Xuecheng Sun: Provided statistical guidance, review, editing and drafted the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chengxiao Hu.

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Imran, M., Sun, X., Hussain, S. et al. Molybdenum supply increases root system growth of winter wheat by enhancing nitric oxide accumulation and expression of NRT genes. Plant Soil 459, 235–248 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04765-0

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