Effects of nitrogen and water stress on the rehydration, endogenous hormonal regulation and yield of maize

Water scarcity is known to be a strong limiting factor affecting maize grown and yield in cold semi-arid regions. Numerous studies have shown that rehydration improves maize growth. Our study aimed to explore the effects of rehydration treatments on maize growth and yield under water and nitrogen stress during different growth stages. We selected the drought-tolerant maize variety Nendan 19 (ND19) and subjected it to water stress during the V6 (sixth-leaf), R2 (filling) and R6 (maturity) growth stages and a rehydration treatment after each stress stage. Our results indicated that N1 (N100 kg N ha(-1)) and N3 (N300 kg N ha(-1)) treatments significantly increased the leaf moisture status relative to water content (RWC), bound water content (BWC), free water content (FWC) and water potential (WP)) at different growth stages. Similar trends were observed in the accumulation of plant leaf and root hormones (zeatin+zeatin riboside, indole-3-acetic acid, abscisic acid and gibberellic acid), photosynthetic pigments and chlorophyll fluorescence. However, under the same water stress conditions, they decreased as the N rate increased and reached a minimum value in the S3 (water stress for N3) treatments. In addition, with growth stage advancement and extension of the rehydration time, both showed a gradual upward trend. The results showed that to save water resources in the cold semi-arid region, rehydration treatments (R2S1 and R2S3) significantly increased the photosynthetic pigments and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, leaf moisture status, biomass, 100-grain weight, hormone content, ear characteristics and grain yield of maize.

Automated summary

This study aimed to explore the effects of rehydration treatments on the growth and yield of maize under water and nitrogen stress. The results showed that the application of nitrogen fertilizer significantly improved leaf moisture status and affected plant hormones, photosynthetic pigments, and chlorophyll fluorescence. Additionally, with longer rehydration time, these indicators showed an increasing trend. Therefore, rehydration treatments can significantly enhance the growth and yield of maize in the cold semi-arid region.