Wheat root morphology at the seedling stage is the basis of root distribution at the adult stage. It is closely related to stress resistance and yield. A comprehensive understanding of the root system characteristics at seedling stage and drought resistance is of great significance for the excellent germplasm utilization and early screening of drought resistance. Using 239 wheat varieties (lines) from Shanxi province, the root traits at seedling stage and their response to water stress were evaluated. The results showed that under normal growth, Shanxi wheat had a great variation in root traits at seedling stage, with the greatest variation in landraces. The maximum root length (MRL) tended to decrease slightly with the years, while other root traits were first increased and then decreased. There were differences among the root traits in response to water stress. The total root length (TRL) is the most sensitive to water, followed by root surface area (RSA), root volume (RV) and root biomass. The maximum root length (MRL) and the average number of roots (RN) were insensitive. The drought resistance of seedling roots showed a trend of decreasing first and then increasing with the years. Landraces and varieties released from 1970 to 1979 had moderately resistance to water stress, varieties released from 1980 to 1999 had lower drought resistance, and varieties released after 2000 had the better 第 4 期 赵佳佳等: 山西省小麦苗期根系性状及抗旱特性分析 715 resistance, of which the dryland varieties were the best resistance. Correlation analysis of the seedling root characteristics and yield related traits suggested that the maximum root length, total root length, root volume and root biomass were significantly positively correlated with 1000-kernel weight and yield under rain-fed conditions, and the maximum root length and root biomass were also significantly positively correlated with adult plant drought resistance. The present study suggests that the maximum root length and root biomass at the seedling stage can be used as early generation selection parameters for drought resistance and yield in dryland breeding in semi-arid areas.
Ciliates are an important component of the rhizosphere microorganism community, but their nutritional contribution to plants has not been fully revealed. In this paper, we investigated the rhizosphere ciliate community of potatoes during six growth stages, illustrated the spatial–temporal dynamics of composition and diversity, and analyzed the correlation between soil physicochemical properties. The contributions of ciliates to the carbon- and nitrogen-derived nutrition of potatoes were calculated. Fifteen species of ciliates were identified, with higher diversity in the top soil, which increased as the potatoes grew, while they were more abundant in the deep soil, and the number decreased as the potatoes grew. The highest number of species of ciliates appeared in July (seedling stage). Among the five core species of ciliates, Colpoda sp. was the dominant species in all six growth stages. Multiple physicochemical properties affected the rhizosphere ciliate community, with ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and the soil water content (SWC) greatly influencing ciliate abundance. The key correlation factors of ciliates diversity were NH4+-N, available phosphorus (AP), and soil organic matter (SOM). The annual average contribution rates of carbon and nitrogen by rhizosphere ciliates to potatoes were 30.57% and 23.31%, respectively, with the highest C/N contribution rates reaching 94.36% and 72.29% in the seedling stage. This study established a method for estimating the contributions of carbon and nitrogen by ciliates to crops and found that ciliates could be potential organic fertilizer organisms. These results might be used to improve water and nitrogen management in potato cultivation and promote ecological agriculture.
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