Grain yield and protein concentration relationships in rice

Abstract

Grain protein concentration (GPC) is an important aspect of rice grain quality, which contributes to nutritional intake requirements; however, high GPC may also reduce eating quality. Both GPC and grain yield (GY) are greatly affected by nitrogen (N) management, and GPC is strongly linked to GY through shared N pathways. This review aims to determine how GPC in rice is affected under different growing conditions and crop management options and how varieties differ in GPC under different conditions and to identify the link between GPC and GY. It highlights the importance of total N uptake by the crop and that GPC gradually increases with the N application rate up to an optimum at which GY reaches a maximum. While GY varies greatly depending on the growing conditions, GPC tends to be maintained within a relatively narrow range. When a number of genotypes are compared, there is often an inverse relationship between GY and GPC, with a mean reduction in GPC of 0.46 percentage point for each 1.0 t ha^-1 increase in GY. However, the balance between GY and GPC is altered based on the genotype's capacity to both take up N from the soil and distribute it to grain, including its ability to translocate N from vegetative organs to growing grain. The balance varies greatly among genotypes, as demonstrated in the case of hybrids, where GY is often higher but GPC is lower compared with inbred varieties. The review concludes with the identification of future research efforts to further understand the GY-GPC relationship.

Keywords

Genotypes / Grain protein / Nitrogen uptake / Rice / Yield

Abbreviations

AWD: alternate wetting and drying irrigation

CTR: conventional transplanting

DAS: days after sowing

DAT: days after transplanting

DDS: dry direct seeding

DOM: degree of milling

GCRPS: ground cover rice production system

GNU: grain nitrogen uptake

GPC: grain protein concentration

GY: grain yield

HI: harvest index

IH: indica hybrid

INUE: internal nitrogen use efficiency

JC: japonica conventional genotype

JIH: japonica/indica hybrid

LAI: leaf area index

NHI: nitrogen harvest index

NIL: near isogenic line

NRE: nitrogen recovery efficiency

NTR: nitrogen translocation ratio

NU: nitrogen uptake

NUE: nitrogen use efficiency

PI: panicle initiation

QTL: quantitative trait loci

RIL: recombinant inbred line

ROA: root oxidation activity

TNU: total nitrogen uptake

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Authors' contributions

S.F. wrote the initial manuscript and J.M. reviewed and edited the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Authors Shu Fukai and Jaquie Mitchell (Editorial Board members) were not involved in the journal's review nor decisions related to this manuscript.

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

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