Accumulation of pigments in wheat leaves under influence of macronutrients

Federal Agricultural Research Center of the North-East named N.V. Rudnitsky, 610007 Kirov, Russian Federation

^* Corresponding author: edaphic@mail.ru

Abstract

On natural acidic soil, statistically significant relationships between wheat yield and pigment content in leaves were established (for Chl a r = 0.910…0,949; Chl b = 0.925…0,967; for carotenoids in 2017 = 0.887;). Nitrogen fertilizer promoted an increase in pigment content in leaves (Chl a and Chl b - by 38…43%, carotenoids - by 16…22%). At phosphorus application, the content of chlorophylls increased by 44…83%, carotenoids - by 20…37%. The content of mobile phosphorus in the arable layer of natural acidic soil is statistically significantly associated with the content of Chl b (r = 0.738 and 0.793 for 2017 and 2020, respectively) and the part of pigments included in light-harvesting complexes (r = 0.799 and 0.829, respectively). In 2020, statistically significant associations of mobile phosphorus content in soil and weight ratios of Chl a / Chl b (r = -0.815) and (Chl a + Chl b) / carotenoids (r = 0.840) were noted. Soil liming reduced the influence of phosphorus on the pigment complex of leaves: against a natural background, the increase in Chl content was 27…40%, against a limed background – 27…29%; for Chl b - on the contrary, liming increased its content by 93…108%, while on a natural background - only by 63…84%. On both soil backgrounds, the addition of phosphorus reduced the carotenoid content in wheat leaves (on a natural background - by 7…9%, on limed - by 17…23%).