Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-15-2018
Journal Title
PLoS ONE
ISSN
eISSN: 1932-6203
Keywords
Wheat, Leaves, Gene expression, Field trials, Nutrients, Alleles, Body weight, Transcription factors
Disciplines
Agronomy and Crop Sciences | Plant Breeding and Genetics
Abstract
Optimising nitrogen fertiliser management in combination with using high nitrogen efficient wheat cultivars is the most effective strategy to maximise productivity in a cost-efficient manner. The present study was designed to investigate the associations between nitrogen utilisation efficiency (NUtE) and the allelic composition of the NAM genes in Australian wheat cultivars. As results, the non-functional NAM-B1 allele was more responsive to the nitrogen levels and increased NUtE significantly, leading to a higher grain yield but reduced grain protein content. Nitrogen application at different developmental stages (mid-tillering, booting, and flowering) did not show significant differences in grain yield and protein content. The NAM-A1 allelic variation is significantly associated with the length of the grain-filling period. While the NAM-A1 allele a was associated with a short to moderate grain-filling phase, the alleles c and d were related to moderate to long grain-filling phase. Thus, selection of appropriate combinations of NAM gene alleles can fine-tune the duration of growth phases affecting sink-source relationships which offers an opportunity to develop high NUtE cultivars for target environments.
Recommended Citation
Alhabbar Z, Yang R, Juhasz A, Xin H, She M, et al. (2018) NAM gene allelic composition and its relation to grain-filling duration and nitrogen utilisation efficiency of Australian wheat. PLOS ONE 13(10): e0205448. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205448
