Fundamental analysis of wheat quality in terms of improving nitrogen use efficiency

• Applicant: Dr. Markus Dier
• Subject Area: Plant Cultivation, Plant Nutrition, Agricultural Technology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 498277628

Grain protein concentration is the most important quality trait for assessing baking quality of bread wheat. To achieve high grain protein concentrations, high nitrogen fertilizer applications are used in cultivation practice. However, this is associated with a risk of high N losses in the environment with negative environmental pollution. In modern wheat varieties, however, baking volume could be influenced more by grain protein composition than by grain protein concentration. In this regard, some genotypes show a non-linear relationship between grain protein concentration and baking volume with hardly any increase in baking volume above the concentration of 11%, whereas others show a linear relationship.The present project has two parts. In the first part, it is to be investigated which changes in grain protein composition result in increase or decrease in baking volume. For this purpose, a two-year field experiment with nine genotypes, which in previous studies showed a linear or non-linear relationship between protein concentration and baking volume, and four N fertilizer levels from deficiency to excess are to be conducted. Among other things, the following questions should be answered: (i) How does an increase in N fertilization change the composition of gliadin, glutenin and glutenin macropolymer and the proportion of these fractions in grain protein?; (ii) Is the increase in baking volume mainly a result of change in grain protein composition?; and (iii) Which change in grain protein composition leads to a non-increase in baking volume in the upper part of the grain protein baking volume curve? The second part of the project is to investigate to what degree in genotypes with a non-linear grain protein-baking volume relationship N-fertilization can be reduced without loss of yield and baking volume and thereby N use efficiency is increased.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants