Light condition during grain-filling stage of main crop strongly influences ratooning ability of low-stubble ratoon rice

Abstract

Compared with high-stubble ratoon rice (RR), low-stubble RR is superior in yield potential, grain quality, and economic benefit. However, the unstable ratooning ability limits the grain yield of low-stubble RR production. Light condition during the grain-filling stage of main crop (GFMC) may be important for rice ratooning. To elucidate the role of light condition during GFMC in affecting ratooning ability, the key response periods, and their underlying mechanisms, field experiments were conducted using two indica cultivars in 2021 and 2022. To create varied light conditions at the canopy base during GFMC, two planting density treatments combining three nitrogen (N) treatments were established in 2021, and three density treatments combining two N treatments and four shading treatments were established in 2022 for the main crop. Light intensity (LI), light quality as reflected by the ratio of red light/far red light (R/FR), and light transmission ratio (LTR) at the canopy base during GFMC, and ratooning ability were dramatically altered by N fertilization but not by planting density. With increased N application, LTR, root bleeding rate, and maximum ratooning rate significantly decreased in 2021. In 2022, low N rate increased LI, R/FR, and maximum ratooning rate by 155.7-241.4%, 47.4-65.3%, and 15.6-27.5%, respectively, but reduced missing hill percentage (proportion of hills without regenerated tillers to the total number of hills) by 30.0-62.1% compared with high N rate. The missing hill percentage was negatively correlated with the indices of light condition, while the maximum ratooning rate was positively correlated with them for both cultivars. Root activity and the ratios of abscisic acid (ABA) to cytokinins (CTK), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and IAA + CTK could explain the effect of light condition during GFMC on ratooning ability. Shading experiment confirmed the effect of light condition on ratooning ability and further revealed that only shading during middle and late GFMC affected ratooning ability. These findings provide new insights into the regulation of ratooning ability, which are useful for developing management practices to increase the grain yield and yield stability of low-stubble RR.

Keywords

Light intensity / Low stubble / Ratoon rice / Ratooning ability / Red/far-red ratio

Abbreviations

ABA: abscisic acid

CTK: cytokinin

GFMC: grain-filling stage of main crop

IAA: indole-3-acetic acid

LAI: leaf area index

LI: light intensity at canopy base

LTR: light transmission ratio

MXZ2: Meixiangzhan 2

N: nitrogen

PAR: photosynthetically active radiation

QXY19X: Qingxiangyou 19 Xiang

R/FR: ratio of red/far-red light at canopy base

RR: ratoon rice

Availability of data and materials

Data will be shared upon request by the readers.

Authors' contributions

X.H., K.L., and X.Z.: Funding acquisition; X.H., Y.L., and X.Z.: Conceptualization; X.Z.: Methodology; X.H., B.Y., M.M., R.H., Q.Y., and Y.Y.: Investigation; X.H., B.Y., and K.L.: Data curation; X.H., Y.L., J.P., Y.F., M.L., X.W., K.L., and X.Z.: Writing, reviewing, and editing; X.H. and X.Z.: Data analysis.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to this work.

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Guangdong Key Laboratory of New Technology in Rice Breeding (2023B1212060042), Guangdong Modern Agricultural Industrial Technology System - Rice Innovation Team Project (2023KJ105), Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2020A1515110224), and Shaoguan Science and Technology Plan Project (210804164531395).

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