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Water absorption is affected by the nitrogen supply to rice plants

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Abstract

Background and aims

Plant growth and photosynthetic ability have been frequently demonstrated to increase with nitrogen (N) supply. N can also promote changes in root water absorption and shoot water status via mechanisms that remain poorly understood. This study aims at investigating the effects of N supply on water absorption.

Methods

A hydroponic experiment with two independent rice varieties (cv. ‘Shangyou63’ hybrid indica and cv. ‘Yangdao6’ conventional indica, China) supplied by three distinct N levels was performed in a greenhouse. Physiological characteristics were analyzed after a few weeks.

Results

Compared to low N supply (20 mg·L−1), exposure to high N supply (100 mg·L−1) increased the light-saturated photosynthetic rate (A) and water use efficiency (WUE) by 17 % and 22 %, respectively, in Shanyou63 and by 43 % and 26 %, respectively, in Yangdao6. The leaf water potential was significantly decreased in Shanyou63 but not in Yangdao6. There were increases in the rate of water uptake and the root hydraulic conductance (L r ) under high N supply in both rice cultivars; these changes were accompanied by increased transcription levels of aquaporins (AQPs), decreased aerenchyma formation and root porosity, and decreased root lignin content. Under high N supply, Yangdao6 also exhibited much higher AQP activity, lower aerenchyma and root porosity compared with those of Shanyou63, indicating that Yangdao6 had an increased ability to absorb water compared with that of Shanyou63.

Conclusions

The enhanced expression of AQPs and decreased root aerenchyma and lignin contributed to increased water absorption ability under high N supply. In addition, the responses of each of the two rice cultivars (hybrid and conventional) to N supply is related to their water uptake ability, resulting from root porosity and an increase in AQP activity.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2013CB127403), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31172020 and 31272236), Jiangsu Postdoctoral Science Foundation (1402148C) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M571768).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Key Lab and Engineering Center for Solid Organic Waste Utilization, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Wei Gang 1, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China, 210095

    Binbin Ren, Min Wang, Yupei Chen, Guomei Sun, Qirong Shen & Shiwei Guo

  2. National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, MOA Key Laboratory of Crop Ecophysiology and Farming System in the Middle Reaches of Yangtze River, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China

    Yong Li

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  1. Binbin Ren
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  2. Min Wang
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  3. Yupei Chen
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  4. Guomei Sun
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  5. Yong Li
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Correspondence to Shiwei Guo.

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Ren, B., Wang, M., Chen, Y. et al. Water absorption is affected by the nitrogen supply to rice plants. Plant Soil 396, 397–410 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2603-5

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