Abstract:
Either CO
2 enrichment or nitrogen (N) application influences growth and development of wheat (
Triticum aestivum L.). The effects of elevated CO
2 concentration and nitrogen addition on the photosynthetic area of source organs (green leaves, stem & sheath, spike and awns), grain number and weight per spike, and grain-leaf ratio of winter wheat at heading stage were investigated in this study. The pot experiment was carried out in open top chambers (OTCs) with two wheat varieties, "Xiaoyan 6" and "Xiaoyan 22", as materials in 2008-2009. Wheat plants were grown under different treatments of two CO
2 concentrations (375 μL·L
-1 and 750 μL·L
-1) and three nitrogen application levels 0, 0.15 g(N)·kg
-1(soil) and 0.30 g(N)·kg
-1(soil). The results showed that nitrogen application significantly increased leaf length and width, stem node length and diameter, spike length and width, awn length. The photosynthetic area, grain number and weight per spike, and grain-leaf ratio of wheat were also enhanced under nitrogen application. Compared with ambient CO
2 concentration (375 μL·L
-1), elevated CO
2 concentration (750 μL·L
-1) positively influenced leaf and stem node length, photosynthetic area of leaf, stem node and awn (
P < 0.05); but it insignificantly affected leaf width, stem node diameter and spike area (
P> 0.05). CO
2 concentration elevation increased the photosynthetic area per stem of "Xiaoyan 6" and "Xiaoyan 22" by 8.1%~15.1% and 2.8%~13.2%, respectively, with the biggest variable amplitude under the nitrogen application level of 0.30 g(N)·kg
-1(soil). Under three nitrogen levels, CO
2 enrichment increased spike grain number and the ratio of grain number-leaf area in varying degrees. The grain number-leaf area ratio of two varieties increased most obviously under 0.30 g(N)·kg
-1(soil) and 0.15 g(N)·kg
-1(soil), with 44.2% and 41.4% increments compared with the ambient CO
2 concentration. Moreover, high CO
2 concentration reduced spike grain weight and the ratio of grain weight-leaf area under no nitrogen application, but raised them by 43.6% and 20.7% averagely under nitrogen application. The awn area was only 3% of the total photosynthetic area, greatly smaller than those of other resources organs. It suggested that CO
2 enrichment enlarge the photosynthetic area of wheat mainly through elongating leaves and stem. It improved the relationship between sources and sink to increase sink number and mater translocation captivity per unit leaf area simultaneously. Nitrogen addition would promote the response of wheat source and sink growth to CO
2 enrichment.