On a significant part of the world agricultural lands, the amount of nitrogen necessary for the growth and development of plants, is insufficient. One of the options for reducing the application of nitrogen fertilizers, especially taking into account their cost, can be the use of varieties with a high ability to remobilize nitrogen from vegetative parts of wheat plants, in particular leaves, stems and roots, which can later serve as its source during grain filling. The accumulation of nitrogen reserves in the grain is mainly determined by the remobilization of this element from the leaves, especially since the absorption of nitrogen by the roots after anthesis in non-irrigated field crops is usually small. Based on the fact that genotypes with improved nutrient remobilization efficiency can be more adapted to different growing conditions, it was evaluated the effect of the main shoot leaves assimilation surface reduction during the period from anthesis to milky-wax ripeness on the grain weight in different winter wheat varieties to identify traits that can be used in the breeding for high yield. Indirect evaluation of the nutrients reutilization from leaves during the plants aging was carried out by the decrease in the dry weight of green leaves located below the main shoot flag leaf, and the total amount of chlorophyll in them during the period of anthesis—milky-wax ripeness at 2019/20—2022/23. It was established that both of these indices depended on the conditions of the year, and were the smallest in 2021, compared to the other two years. Varietal differences were also observed: in the modern varieties Kyivska 17 and Horodnytsia, the loss of leaves dry weight, and the total amount of chlorophyll in them during this period were on average higher than in the variety of earlier breeding Smuglyanka in 2020 and 2022, and in the Pochayna variety in 2022. The 1000 grains weight from the ear of the main shoot of modern winter wheat varieties on average over the 3 years of research had a tendency to higher values than that of the Smuhlianka variety: accordingly, in the former, it ranged from 44.8 to 48.3 g, and in the last one it was 41.1 g. The analysis of the correlations of the 1000 grains weight with the decrease in the dry weight of green leaves, located below the flag leaf, and the total amount of chlorophyll in them during the period anthesis—milky-wax ripeness showed that for each variety, there were a positive relationship with both traits (determination coefficients varied from 0.54 to 0.89). Therefore, all studied varieties, regardless of the breeding period, were characterized by effective nutrients remobilization from the leaves. Thus, the obtained data prove that breeding of new varieties with a higher ability to nutrients reutilization, in particular nitrogen, can be an important factor in increasing wheat productivity at lower costs for its cultivation. Wheat varieties, which are distinguished by a higher coefficient of nitrogen reutilization from leaves, can be a valuable starting material for breeding.
Keywords: Triticum aestivum L., leaf senescence, grain filling, chlorophyll, remobilization
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