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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Nitrogen accumulation and remobilisation in wheat and barley plants exposed to waterlogging at different developmental stages

Romina P. de San Celedonio https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2703-342X A B * , L. Gabriela Abeledo A B C , Gustavo G. Striker https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6395-6734 A C and Daniel J. Miralles A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Agronomía, Avenida San Martín 4453, CPA 1417 DSE, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

B CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

C IFEVA, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET, Facultad de Agronomía, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

* Correspondence to: romina@agro.uba.ar

Handling Editor: Jairo Palta

Crop & Pasture Science 73(6) 615-626 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP21569
Submitted: 3 July 2021  Accepted: 18 December 2021   Published: 20 April 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context: Although waterlogging is known to decrease grain yield in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), its effect on plant N traits is still unknow.

Aims: This study evaluated biomass N dynamics and partitioning to grains, in wheat and barley plants subjected to waterlogging.

Methods: Under contrasting environmental conditions, two pot experiments exposing wheat and barley plants to waterlogging events for 15–20 days at five different developmental stages, from emergence to maturity were performed. Grain N concentration, grain N content, biomass N concentration, N utilisation efficiency (NUE) and N remobilisation were recorded.

Key results: Both species responded similarly to waterlogging for most N traits. Reductions in grain N content differed according to the moment waterlogging occurred. The greatest reductions (46–77% compared to the control) being for waterlogging from the beginning of stem elongation to anthesis, which also showed the highest reductions in N remobilisation, N uptake at maturity, and N partitioning to the grains, but only a slight decrease in NUE. Grain N concentration raised drastically (up to 45 mg N g DW−1) with minimal grain yields. N concentration of aboveground biomass decreased during waterlogging, recovering control values at maturity. N content at maturity was related to the total biomass.

Conclusions: Waterlogging differentially reduced N uptake and remobilisation to grains of wheat and barley depending on the developmental stage when water excess occurred.

Implications: The impact of waterlogging on N economy of wheat and barley appears indirect and predominantly related to carrying effects of the stress on carbon economy due to growth reductions.

Keywords: flooding, grain nitrogen concentration, grain nitrogen yield, Hordeum vulgare L., nitrogen uptake, nitrogen utilisation, plant nitrogen economy, Triticum aestivum L.


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