Effect of nitrogen fertilizers on zinc absorption and translocation in winter wheat

ABSTRACT

Zinc (Zn) deficiency caused by inadequate dietary intake is a global nutritional problem, so increasing Zn concentrations in crops is a challenging and high-priority research task. A field experiment was conducted to explore the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilizers on Zn absorption and translocation in winter wheat during the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 crop seasons, in Xinzheng City, Henan Province, China. N was applied at four levels (0, 90, 180, and 270 kg N ha⁻¹) and Zn was applied at two levels (15 and 30 kg zinc sulfate heptahydrate (ZnSO_4·7H₂O) ha⁻¹]. The results indicated that reasonable N application increased grain yield, total Zn accumulations, and Zn concentrations of each plant part of winter wheat. Furthermore, appropriate N application increased Zn distribution proportions in grains and decreased Zn distribution proportions in roots, stems, leaves, and spikes, and enhanced Zn removal from roots, stems, leaves, and spikes to grains. Meanwhile, reasonable N combined with higher Zn application had a better effect on Zn absorption and Zn translocation to grain of winter wheat. The results suggested that suitable quantity of N fertilizer combined with higher Zn application is an important measure to obtain both higher grain yield and grain Zn concentration in winter wheat production.

KEYWORDS:

• Nitrogen
• zinc
• winter wheat
• absorption
• translocation

Funding

This work was supported financially by the Plan for “Eleventh Five-Year” National Science and Technology Support (No. 2008BADA4B07), the Program for Foundation and Advanced Technology Research in Henan Province (No. 112300410086) and the Program for National Natural Science Foundation of China, (No. 41201286, No. 41501311).