Limited Nitrogen and Plant Growth Stages Discriminate Well Nitrogen Use, Uptake and Utilization Efficiency in Popcorn
Shahid Khan,
Antônio Teixeira do Amaral Júnior,
Fernando Rafael Alves Ferreira,
Samuel Henrique Kamphorst,
Gabriel Moreno Bernardo Gonçalves,
Marta Simone Mendonça Freitas,
Vanildo Silveira,
Gonçalo Apolinário de Souza Filho,
José Francisco Teixeira do Amaral,
Ricardo Enrique Bresssan Smith,
Iftikhar Hussain Khalil,
Janieli Maganha Silva Vivas,
Yure Pequeno de Souza,
Diego Alves Peçanha
Affiliations
Shahid Khan
Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Center of Agricultural Science and Technology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28000-000, Brazil
Antônio Teixeira do Amaral Júnior
Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Center of Agricultural Science and Technology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28000-000, Brazil
Fernando Rafael Alves Ferreira
Laboratory of Phytotechnology, Sector of Mineral and Plant Nutrition, Center of Agricultural Science and Technology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28013-602, Brazil
Samuel Henrique Kamphorst
Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Center of Agricultural Science and Technology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28000-000, Brazil
Gabriel Moreno Bernardo Gonçalves
Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Center of Agricultural Science and Technology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28000-000, Brazil
Marta Simone Mendonça Freitas
Laboratory of Phytotechnology, Sector of Mineral and Plant Nutrition, Center of Agricultural Science and Technology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28013-602, Brazil
Vanildo Silveira
Laboratory of Biotechnology, Center of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28013-602, Brazil
Gonçalo Apolinário de Souza Filho
Laboratory of Biotechnology, Center of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28013-602, Brazil
José Francisco Teixeira do Amaral
Department of Rural Engineering, Center of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), Alegre, ES 29500-000, Brazil
Ricardo Enrique Bresssan Smith
Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Center of Agricultural Science and Technology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28000-000, Brazil
Iftikhar Hussain Khalil
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Peshawar 25130, Pakistan
Janieli Maganha Silva Vivas
Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Center of Agricultural Science and Technology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28000-000, Brazil
Yure Pequeno de Souza
Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Center of Agricultural Science and Technology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28000-000, Brazil
Diego Alves Peçanha
Laboratory of Phytotechnology, Sector of Mineral and Plant Nutrition, Center of Agricultural Science and Technology, Darcy Ribeiro State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro, Av. Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ 28013-602, Brazil
The extensive use of nitrogen (N) in agriculture has caused negative impacts on the environment and costs. In this context, two pot experiments were performed under different N levels and harvested at different vegetative stages to assess two popcorn inbred lines (P2 and L80) and their hybrid (F1 = P2 × L80) for the N use, uptake and utilization efficiency (with the inclusion and exclusion of root N content); to find the contrasting N levels and vegetative stages that effect nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and to understand the relationship between the traits related to NUE. The hybrid and P2 were confirmed better than L80 for all the studied traits. NUE is mainly affected by the shoot dry weight, uptake and utilization efficiency. Extremely low and high N levels were found to be more discriminating for N use and dry weight, respectively. At the V6 (six fully expanded leaf) stage, root N content (RNC) should be considered; in contrast, at the VT (tasseling stage) stage, RNC should not be considered for the uptake and utilization efficiency. The genetic parameter performance for N use, uptake, shoot dry weight and N content could favor the achievement of the genetic gain in advanced segregating generations.
