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Acta Agronomica Sinica ›› 2018, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (04): 581-590.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1006.2018.00581

• TILLAGE & CULTIVATION·PHYSIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Physiological Mechanisms of Promoting Source, Sink, and Grain Filling by 24-Epibrassinolide (EBR) Applied at Panicle Initiation Stage of Rice

Zan-Tang LI1(), Shi-Yin WANG1, Wen-Yu JIANG1,2, Shuai ZHANG1,2, Shao-Bin ZHANG2, Jiang XU1,*()   

  1. 1 Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
    2 College of Biological Science and Technology, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, Liaoning, China
  • Received:2017-06-09 Accepted:2018-01-08 Online:2018-02-07 Published:2018-02-07
  • Contact: Jiang XU E-mail:lizantang@163.com;jiangxu_xj@163.com
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31571589, 31071351), the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, grant No. 2015CB150401), and the Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS).

Abstract:

Grain weight and yield of rice are clearly related to grain filling ability, which is strongly affected by source and sink. Studies of Brassinosteroids’ effects on growth, development and yield of rice have been reported. In order to further set forth the relative physiological characteristics and relationship, we set up field experiments to study the impacts of 24-epibrassinolid (EBR) sprayed at the panicle initiation stage of Nipponbare on source capacity, sink size, sink activity and grain filling. Both T1 (0.2 µmol L-1 EBR) and T2 (1 µmol L-1 EBR) treatments increased the source capacity by improving the accumulation of photosynthate and its translocation during grain filling stage. Both EBR treatments increased the sink size through different manners: T1 treatment increased the grain weight markedly but had little influence on panicle and grain amounts; and T2 treatment significantly increased number of panicles and grains per panicle whereas had little influence on grain weight. Two EBR treatments enhanced the sucrose lyase activity in both superior and inferior grains, especially for the activity of Acid Invertase (AI) in inferior grains. AI accelerated the transportation of photosynthate and the synthesis of starch in inferior grains. T1 and T2 significantly increased rice yield by an average of 5.6% and 15.2%, respectively, with 9.1% more in T2 than in T1. Therefore, compared with grain weight enhancement in T1, the increase of panicle and grain numbers in T2 had greater impact on rice yield. In summary, two EBR treatments at panicle differentiation stage can increase the source capacity, sink size and sink activity of rice, and then promote photosynthates accumulation and distribution, which is beneficial to grain filling. On the basis of sufficient photosynthates and strong sink activity, sink size enlargement can significantly increase the rice yield.

Key words: rice, source capacity, sink size, sink activity, grain filling

Fig. 1

Aboveground biomass at flowering stage and harvesting stageA: aboveground biomass in 2013, B: aboveground biomass in 2014, FS: flowering stage, HS: harvesting stage; * and **: significantly different between EBR treatments at the 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels, respectively. T0, T1, and T2: 0, 0.2, and 1.0 µmol L-1 EBR treatments, respectively."

Fig. 2

Non-structure carbohydrate (NSC) content in vegetative organsA: NSC content at flowering stage; B: NSC content at harvesting stage. * and **: significantly different between EBR treatments at the 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels, respectively; T0, T1, and T2: 0, 0.2, and 1.0 µmol L-1 EBR treatments, respectively."

Fig. 3

Activity of sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) and content of sucrose in leaves* and ** represent the significance of T1 at the 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels; + and ++ represent the significance of T2 at the 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels, respectively; T0, T1, and T2: 0, 0.2, and 1.0 µmol L-1 EBR treatments, respectively."

Table 1

Sink size of different treatments in 2013 and 2014"

年份
Year
处理
Treatment
单位面积穗数
Panicles per m2
每穗粒数
Grains
per panicle
单位面积粒数
Grains per m2 (×103)
千粒重
1000-grain weight
(g)
产量
Grain yield
(t hm-2)
2013 T0 311.5 bA 96.5 bA 30.0 bB 21.8 bA 7.49 bB
T1 313.0 bA 102.1 abA 32.5 bB 23.8 aA 8.11 bAB
T2 341.7 aA 112.5 aA 38.4 aA 23.0 abA 8.80 aA
2014 T0 311.1 bB 94.4 bA 29.4 bB 23.7 bA 7.54 cB
T1 310.9 bB 99.7 abA 31.0 bB 24.7 aA 7.76 bB
T2 358.4 aA 104.0 aA 37.3 aA 23. 8 bA 8.51 aA
年份Year (Y) 0.70 1.80 3.97 9.79** 0.95
处理Treatment (T) 20.10** 5.86* 75.80** 5.59* 10.99**
互作Y×T 1.10 0.42 0.20 0.93 0.39

Fig. 4

Sucrose lyase activity in superior grains and inferior grains at filling stageA: SS (sucrose synthase) activity in superior grains; B: SS activity in inferior grains; C: AI (acid invertase) activity in superior grains; D: AI activity in inferior grains. * and ** represent the significance of T1 at the 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels; + and ++ represent the significance of T2 at the 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels. T0, T1, and T2: 0, 0.2, and 1.0 µmol L-1 EBR treatments, respectively."

Fig. 5

NSC accumulation in superior grains and inferior grains at filling stageA: NSC accumulation in superior grains; B: NSC accumulation in inferior grains. * and **: significantly different from that of T0 at the 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels, respectively. T0, T1, and T2: 0, 0.2, and 1.0 µmol L-1 EBR treatments, respectively."

Fig. 6

Starch accumulation in superior grains and inferior grains at filling stageA: starch accumulation in superior grains; B: starch accumulation in inferior grains. * and **: significantly different from that of T0 at the 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels, respectively. T0, T1, and T2: 0, 0.2, and 1.0 µmol L-1 EBR treatments, respectively."

Fig. 7

Brown rice weight and seed-setting rate of superior grains and inferior grains at harvesting stageA: brown rice weight; B: seed-setting rate. * and **: significantly different from that of T0 at the 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels, respectively; T0, T1, and T2: 0, 0.2, and 1.0 µmol L-1 EBR treatments, respectively."

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