Abstract
The concentration of nitrogen (N) in vegetative tissues is largely dependent on the balance among growth, root N uptake, and N assimilation. Elevated CO2 (eCO2) plus warming is likely to affect the vegetative-tissue N and protein concentration of wheat by altering N metabolism, but this is poorly understood. To investigate this, spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) was grown for three weeks at two levels of CO2 (400 or 700 ppm) and two temperature regimes (26/21 or 31/26 °C, day/night). Plant dry mass, plant %N, protein concentrations, NO3− and NH4+ root uptake rates (using 15NO3 or 15NH4), and whole-plant N- and NO3--assimilation were measured. Plant growth, %N, protein concentration, and root N-uptake rate were each significantly affected only by CO2, while N- and NO3−-assimilation were significantly affected only by temperature. However, plants grown at eCO2 plus warming had the lowest concentrations of N and protein. These results suggest that one strategy breeding programs can implement to minimize the negative effects of eCO2 and warming on wheat tissue N would be to target the maintenance of root N uptake rate at eCO2 and N assimilation at higher growth temperatures.
Highlights
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) ranks third among field crops globally and in the United States (U.S.)in terms of production, behind corn (Zea mays) and rice (Oryza sativa) globally or corn and soybean (Glycine max) nationally [1,2]
We noticed severe inhibition of tomato growth caused by the combination of Elevated CO2 (eCO2) and warming [10,24], which was partly due to a dramatic increase in leaf angle, and decrease in photosynthesis, compared to eCO2 or warming alone [24]
These results indicate that interactive effects of CO2 enrichment and warming will be species-specific, and not necessarily additive as observed in tomato
Summary
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) ranks third among field crops globally and in the United States (U.S.)in terms of production, behind corn (Zea mays) and rice (Oryza sativa) globally or corn and soybean (Glycine max) nationally [1,2]. Wheat grain protein content is a major determinant of baking quality and it largely depends on the nitrogen (N) concentration during the vegetative stage of growth because the grains receive most of their N from vegetative tissues via remobilization [3,4]. Climate change will impact plant growth and N metabolism, but these impacts have mostly been studied to date by examining the effects of individual climate-change factors (especially eCO2 , higher temperatures, and drought). Since these main climate-change factors will change concomitantly, discerning the interactive effects of these factors will be necessary to understand how climate change will impact plant N metabolism
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