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Response of Leaf Gas Exchange Parameters to Mulching Materials in Wheat Field was Mediated by Stomatal Morphology and ABA Content

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Abstract

Field mulching and deficit irrigation are applied more frequently in the North China Plain for higher water use efficiency. In order to explore the physiological response of winter wheat to mulching materials under different irrigation amounts, a field experiment with three mulching (no mulching, NM; transparent film mulching, TFM; and straw mulching, SM) and two drip irrigation (full and deficit irrigation, FI and DI) treatments were set up. Soil water content, leaf gas exchange parameters, leaf abscisic acid content, and stomatal morphological parameters were measured. The results showed that the soil water content of TFM and SM treatments were higher than that of NM treatment by 12.4%–29.8% and 6.1%–7.1% under FI, respectively. Because of the lower value and larger differences among treatments of soil water content at the filling stage treatment effects on gas exchange parameters were significant. Comparing to NM treatment under FI, the stomatal conductance of TFM and SM treatments under FI increased by 95.9% and 97.9%, respectively; however, the gas exchange parameters of TFM and SM treatments under DI had significantly different responses. In a manner that the net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance of TFM treatment increased by 21.7% and 71.7%, while that of SM treatment decreased by 27.2% and 36.1%. Those changes of the gas exchange parameters were accompanied with the change of stomatal morphological parameters and ABA. Line correlations were found between stomatal conductance and leaf abscisic acid content, net photosynthetic rate, and the stomatal perimeter. To sum up, the changes in leaf abscisic acid content and stomatal morphological characteristics mediated the responses of leaf gas exchange parameters to different treatments. The results also suggested that if one needs to reduce the irrigation amounts, transparent plastic film mulching instead of straw mulching should be applied to compensate for the drawback of the lower soil water content.

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The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding authors.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2022YFD1900801), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52279054, 52130906, 51979288), and the Special Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basins, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (SKL2022TS08), Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (2021–2025).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, China

    Shanshan Qin, Yanqun Zhang, Yan Mo, Shihong Gong & Baozhong Zhang

  2. Department of Irrigation and Drainage, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, China

    Shanshan Qin, Yanqun Zhang, Yan Mo, Shihong Gong & Baozhong Zhang

  3. College of Agricultural Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China

    Shanshan Qin

  4. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China

    Jiandong Wang & Chuanjuan Wang

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  1. Shanshan Qin
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Contributions

Conceptualization, Y.Z. and J.W.; methodology and formal analysis, S.Q., J.W., C.W., and Y.Z.; investigation, S.Q., Y.M., and C.W.; writing and original draft preparation, S.Q.; writing, reviewing, and editing of the manuscript, Y.Z., J.W., C.W, Y.M. S.G., and B.Z; supervision, S.G.; funding acquisition, Y.Z., J.W., and S.G. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yanqun Zhang or Jiandong Wang.

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Qin, S., Zhang, Y., Wang, J. et al. Response of Leaf Gas Exchange Parameters to Mulching Materials in Wheat Field was Mediated by Stomatal Morphology and ABA Content. J Plant Growth Regul (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-024-11240-y

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