Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Genetics of root traits influencing nitrogen use efficiency under varied nitrogen level in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Cereal Research Communications Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To minimize unused nitrogen (N) fertilizer in the soil, improving the nitrogen use efficiency of the cropping system is of utmost importance. Plants mainly absorb N from the soil through roots. The study was, therefore, carried out to know the inheritance pattern of root traits responsible for N uptake. Extreme six spring wheat lines selected from 175 genotypes screened for root dry weight under hydroponic condition were crossed in half diallel to generate 15 F1s. These F1s along with their parents were evaluated under hydroponic condition for rooting depth (RD), root surface area (RSA), root volume (RV), total root length (TRL) and numbers of root tips (N tips) under N-limiting and N-non-limiting environment. Combining ability analysis revealed significant contribution due to both general combining ability and specific combining ability for all root traits indicating the importance of both additive and non-additive gene actions under both N environments. However, the relative importance of each was different in the two environments, indicating, therefore, separate breeding strategies for the two environments. Early generation selection for the root traits like RD, TRL, RSA, RV and N tips under N non-limiting can be effectively integrated into the breeding programme as indicated by preponderance of additive gene effects in the study. The distribution pattern of the various roots traits in the F2 generation of a specific cross indicates the involvement of multiple genes with minor effects for the most of root traits and therefore confirms our earlier observations that selection for the root traits can be effective; however, the stage of selection (early vs. late generation) depends upon the N environment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahmadi J, Pour-Aboughadareh A, Fabriki-Ourang S, Mehrabi AA, Siddique KH (2018) Screening wheat germplasm for seedling root architectural traits under contrasting water regimes: potential sources of variability for drought adaptation. Arch Agron Soil Sci 64(10):1351–1365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atta BM, Mahmood T, Trethowan TM (2013) Relationship between root morphology and grain yield of wheat in north-western NSW, Australia. Aust J Crop Sci 7(13):2108

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker RJ (1978) Issues in diallel analysis. Crop Sci 18(4):533–536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Y, Palta J, Prasad PV, Siddique KH (2020) Phenotypic variability in bread wheat root systems at the early vegetative stage. BMC Plant Biol 20:1–16

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chun L, Mi G, Li J, Chen F, Zhang F (2005) Genetic analysis of maize root characteristics in response to low nitrogen stress. Plant Soil 276(1–2):369–382

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Den Herder G, Van Isterdael G, Beeckman T, De Smet I (2010) The roots of a new green revolution. Trends Plant Sci 15(11):600–607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erisman JW, Sutton MA, Galloway J, Klimont Z, Winiwarter W (2008) How a century of ammonia synthesis changed the world. Nat Geosci 1(10):636–639

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ford KE, Gregory PJ, Gooding MJ, Pepler S (2006) Genotype and fungicide effects on late-season root growth of winter wheat. Plant Soil 284(1–2):33–44

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Foulkes MJ, Hawkesford MJ, Barraclough PB, Holdsworth MJ, Kerr S, Kightley S, Shewry PR (2009) Identifying traits to improve the nitrogen economy of wheat: recent advances and future prospects. Field Crops Res 114(3):329–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Górny AG, Sodkiewicz T (2001) Genetic analysis of the nitrogen and phosphorus utilization efficiencies in mature spring barley plants. Plant Breed 120(2):129–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffing B (1956) Concept of general and specific combining ability in relation to diallel crossing systems. Aust J Biol Sci 9(4):463–493

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurd EA (1964) Root study of three wheat varieties and their resistance to drought and damage by soil cracking. Can J Plant Sci 44(3):240–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson LD, Marquez-Ortiz JJ, Barnes DK, Lamb JFS (1996) Inheritance of root traits in alfalfa. Crop Sci 36(6):1482–1487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Z, Liu X, Craft EJ, Yuan L, Cheng L, Mi G, Chen F (2018) Physiological and genetic analysis for maize root characters and yield in response to low phosphorus stress. Breed Sci 68(2):268–277

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch JP (2007) Roots of the second green revolution. Aust J Bot 55(5):493–512

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malyan SK, Bhatia A, Kumar A, Gupta DK, Singh R, Kumar SS, Tomer R, Kumar O, Jain N (2016) Methane production, oxidation and mitigation: a mechanistic understanding and comprehensive evaluation of influencing factors. Sci Total Environ 572:874–896

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Malyan SK, Bhatia A, Kumar SS, Fagodiya RK, Pugazhendhi A, Duc PA (2019) Mitigation of greenhouse gas intensity by supplementing with Azolla and moderating the dose of nitrogen fertilizer. Biocatal Agric Biotechnol 20:101266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masclaux C, Quillere I, Gallasi A, Hirel B (2001) The challenge of remobilisation in plant nitrogen economy. A survey of physio-agronomic and molecular approaches. Ann Appl Biol 138(1):69–81

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Medici LO, Pereira MB, Lea PJ, Azevedo RAD (2004) Diallel analysis of maize lines with contrasting responses to applied nitrogen. J Agric Sci 142(5):535–541

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy KM, Campbell KG, Lyon SR, Jones SS (2007) Evidence of varietal adaptation to organic farming systems. Field Crops Res 102(3):172–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Narayanan S, Mohan A, Gill KS, Prasad PV (2014) Variability of root traits in spring wheat germplasm. PLoS ONE 9(6):e100317

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Price AH, Townend J, Jones MP, Audebert A, Courtois B (2002) Mapping QTLs associated with drought avoidance in upland rice grown in the Philippines and West Africa. Plant Mol Biol 48(5–6):683–695

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Przulj N, Mladenov N (1999) Inheritance of grain filling duration in spring wheat. Plant Breed 118(6):517–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranjan R, Yadav R (2019) Targeting nitrogen use efficiency for sustained production of cereal crops. J Plant Nutr 42(9):1086–1113

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ranjan R, Yadav R (2020) Genetics analysis of nitrogen use efficiency component traits under nitrogen-limiting environment. Cereal Res Commun 48(4):431–439

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ranjan R, Yadav R, Pandey R, Jain N, Bainsla NK, Gaikwad KB, Singh AM (2019a) Variation in wheat (Triticum aestivum) advance lines and released cultivars for traits associated with nitrogen use efficiency under N limiting environment. Indian J Agric Sci 89(1):99–104

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ranjan R, Yadav R, Kumar A, Mandal SN (2019b) Contributing traits for nitrogen use efficiency in selected wheat genotypes and corollary between screening methodologies. Acta Agric Scand Sect B Soil Plant Sci 69(7):588–595

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ranjan R, Yadav R, Gaikwad K, Kumar M, Kumar N, Babu P, Pandey R, Joshi AK (2021) Genetic variability for root traits and its role in adaptation under conservation agriculture in spring wheat. Indian J Genet 81(1):24–33

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raun WR, Johnson GV (1999) Improving nitrogen use efficiency for cereal production. Agron J 91(3):357–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ren Y, Qian Y, Xu Y, Zou C, Liu D, Zhao X, Zhang A, Tong Y (2017) Characterization of QTLs for root traits of wheat grown under different nitrogen and phosphorus supply levels. Front Plant Sci 8:2096

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson D (2001) Root proliferation, nitrate inflow and their carbon costs during nitrogen capture by competing plants in patchy soil. Plant Soil 232(1–2):41–50

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seyyed-Nazari R, Ghadimzadeh M, Darvishzadeh R, Alavi SR (2016) Diallel analysis for estimation of genetic parameters in oriental tobacco genotypes. Genetika 48(1):125–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shewry PR, Hey SJ (2015) The contribution of wheat to human diet and health. Food Energy Secur 4(3):178–202

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton MA, Howard CM, Erisman JW, Billen G, Bleeker A, Grennfelt P, Van Grinsven H, Grizzetti B (eds) (2011) The European nitrogen assessment: sources, effects and policy perspectives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorup-Kristensen K, Cortasa MS, Loges R (2009) Winter wheat roots grow twice as deep as spring wheat roots, is this important for N uptake and N leaching losses? Plant Soil 322(1):101–114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • vanBuere ETL, Struik PC (2017) Diverse concepts of breeding for nitrogen use efficiency. A review. Agron Sustain Dev 37(5):1–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Dun X, Shi J, Wang X, Liu G, Wang H (2017) Genetic dissection of root morphological traits related to nitrogen use efficiency in Brassica napus L under two contrasting nitrogen conditions. Front Plant Sci 8:1709

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Yadav R, Singh SS, Jain N, Singh GP, Prabhu KV (2010) Wheat production in India: technologies to face future challenges. J Agric Sci 2(2):164

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The first author highly acknowledges Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India, for Netaji Subhas ICAR—International Fellowship—2015; International Plant Nutrition Institute, Peachtree Corners, USA, for IPNI scholar award—2016.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Genetics, ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Rumesh Ranjan & Rajbir Yadav

  2. Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, 141004, India

    Rumesh Ranjan

Authors
  1. Rumesh Ranjan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rajbir Yadav
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rajbir Yadav.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in the publication.

Additional information

Communicated by A. Mohan.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 32 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ranjan, R., Yadav, R. Genetics of root traits influencing nitrogen use efficiency under varied nitrogen level in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). CEREAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS 50, 755–765 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42976-021-00224-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42976-021-00224-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation