James J. Camberato

Effect of Plant Nitrogen Concentration on the Response of Glyphosate-Resistant Corn Hybrids and Their Progeny to Clethodim and Glufosinate

Abstract Rapid adoption of glyphosate-resistant (GR) corn hybrids has led to the reemergence of volunteer corn as a problematic weed in soybean and has made controlling the initial stand of corn in a replant situation more difficult. If volunteer corn in soybean or the initial corn stand in a replant situation is not controlled, yield loss can occur. Clethodim and glufosinate are often used to control GR corn in corn replant situations and in soybean. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the response of two hybrid corn varieties and their F2 progeny to clethodim and glufosinate and to evaluate the effect of plant nitrogen (N) concentration on clethodim and glufosinate efficacy. First, a dose-response study was conducted with clethodim and glufosinate on DeKalb 60-18 and 60-18F2, and DeKalb 63-42 and 63-42F2 to compare the response of the hybrids and their F2 progeny to the herbicides. DeKalb 63-42 was more tolerant to clethodim than 60-18 and 60-18F2. No differences were found between the hybrids and their respective F2 progeny in the response to clethodim or glufosinate. In a second dose-response study assessing the effect of N conditions on herbicide efficacy, both clethodim and glufosinate were less injurious to plants growing in low N than in high N availability. Nomenclature: Clethodim; glufosinate; corn Zea mays L.; soybean Glycine max (L.) Merr.

Natural variation of salinity response, population structure and candidate genes associated with salinity tolerance in perennial ryegrass accessions.

Natural variation in salinity response, effects of population structure on growth and physiological traits and gene-trait association were examined in 56 global collections of diverse perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) accessions. Three population structure groups were identified with 66 simple sequence repeat markers, which on average accounted for 9 and 11% of phenotypic variation for the control and salinity treatment at 300 mm NaCl. Group 1 (10 accessions) had greater plant height, leaf dry weight and water content, chlorophyll index, K(+) concentration and K(+) /Na(+) than group 2 (39 accessions) and group 3 (7 accessions) under salinity stress, while group 3 had higher Na(+) than groups 1 and 2. Eighty-seven single nucleotide polymorphisms were detected from four partial candidate genes encoding aquaporin and Na(+) /H(+) antiporter in both plasma and tonoplast membranes. Overall, rapid decay of linkage disequilibrium was observed within 500 bp. Significant associations were found between the putative LpTIP1 and Na(+) for the control and between the putative LpNHX1 and K(+) /Na(+) under the control and salinity treatments after controlling population structure. These results indicate that population structure influenced phenotypic traits, and allelic variation in LpNHX1 may affect salinity tolerance of perennial ryegrass.

The effect of nitrogen rate on transgenic corn Cry3Bb1 protein expression.

BACKGROUND Combining herbicide-resistant and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) traits in corn (Zea mays L.) hybrids may affect insect resistance management owing to volunteer corn. Some Bt toxins may be expressed at lower levels by nitrogen-deficient corn roots. Corn plants with sublethal levels of Bt expression could accelerate the evolution of Bt resistance in target insects. The present objective was to quantify the concentration of Bt (Cry3Bb1) in corn root tissue with varying tissue nitrogen concentrations. RESULTS Expression of Cry3Bb1 toxin in root tissue was highly variable, but there were no differences in the overall concentration of Cry3Bb1 expressed between roots taken from Cry3Bb1-positive volunteer and hybrid corn plants. The nitrogen rate did affect Cry3Bb1 expression in the greenhouse, less nitrogen resulted in decreased Cry3Bb1 expression, yet this result was not documented in the field. CONCLUSION A positive linear relationship of plant nitrogen status on Cry3Bb1 toxin expression was documented. Also, high variability in Cry3Bb1 expression is potentially problematic from an insect resistance management perspective. This variability could create a mosaic of toxin doses in the field, which does not fit into the high-dose refuge strategy and could alter predictions about the speed of evolution of resistance to Cry3Bb1 in western corn rootworm Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte.

Applicability of a “Multi-Stage Pulse Labeling” 15N Approach to Phenotype N Dynamics in Maize Plant Components during the Growing Season

Highlights This work utilizes “multi-stage pulse labeling” 15N applications, primarily during reproductive growth stages, as a phenotyping strategy to identify maize hybrids with superior N use efficiency (NUE) under low N conditions. Research using labeled isotopic N (15N) can precisely quantify fertilizer nitrogen (N) uptake and organ-specific N allocation in field crops such as maize (Zea mays L.). The overall research objective was to study plant N uptake patterns potentially correlated with N use efficiency (NUE) in field-grown maize hybrids using a “multi-stage pulse labeling” 15N phenotyping strategy with an emphasis on the reproductive period. Five hybrids varying in NUE were compared under zero N fertilizer application (0N) plus a moderate rate of 112 kg N ha−1 (112N) in 2013 (2 locations) and 2014 growing seasons. The equivalent of 3.2 (2013) to 2.1 (2014) kg of 15N ha−1, as labeled Ca(15NO3)2, was injected into soil on both sides of consecutive plants at multiple stages between V14 and R5. Aboveground plant biomass was primarily collected in short-term intervals (4–6 days after each 15N application) in both years, and following a single long-term interval (at R6 after 15N injection at R1) in 2014. Averaged across hybrids and site-years, the moderate N rate (112N) increased absolute 15N uptake at all stages; however, plants in the 0N treatment allocated proportionally more 15N to reproductive organs. Before flowering, short-term recovery of 15N (15Nrec) totaled ~0.30 or 0.40 kg kg−1 of the 15N applied, and ~50% of that accumulated 15Nu was found in leaves and 40% in stems. After flowering, plant 15Nrec totaled ~0.30 kg kg−1 of 15N applied, and an average 30% of accumulated 15Nu was present in leaves, 17% in stems, and the remainder—usually the majority—in ears. At the R5 stage, despite a declining overall rate of 15N uptake per GDD thermal unit, plant 15Nrec represented ~0.25 kg kg−1 of 15N applied, of which ~65% was allocated to kernels. Overall long-term 15Nrec during grain filling was ~0.45 and 0.70 kg kg−1 of total 15N applied at R1 with 0 and 112N, respectively, and most (~77%) 15N uptake was found in kernels. The “multi-stage pulse labeling” technique proved to be a robust phenotyping strategy to differentiate reproductive-stage N uptake/allocation patterns to plant organs and maize efficiencies with newly available fertilizer N.

The Influence of Nitrogen Application Timing and Rate on Volunteer Corn Interference in Hybrid Corn

Abstract Volunteer corn (VC) in hybrid corn has become more prevalent in recent years and can reduce grain yield. Nitrogen (N) management can influence VC interference in corn. Field experiments were established to determine the effects of N fertilizer management and VC interference on hybrid corn growth and grain yield. Treatments consisted of three VC densities (control, 0 plants m−2; low density, 1 plant m−2; high density, 4 plants m−2) and six N fertilizer treatments (0 kg N ha−1, 67 kg N ha−1 at planting, 67 kg N ha−1 at planting + 133 kg N ha−1 at V5 corn growth stage, 67 kg N ha−1 at planting + 133 kg N ha−1 at V10 corn growth stage, 200 kg N ha−1 at V5 corn growth stage, and 200 kg N ha−1 at V10 corn growth stage). The effect of VC on hybrid corn was dependent on N rate. When 200 kg N ha−1 was applied, regardless of application timing, hybrid corn dry weight, hybrid corn N content, and hybrid corn grain yield were reduced by the high VC density. However, when VC grain yield was added to hybrid corn grain yield, VC density did not affect total grain yield. When 0 and 67 kg N ha−1 were applied, neither hybrid corn dry weight nor hybrid corn N content was affected by either VC density, but the high VC density reduced hybrid corn grain yield for both N rates by 19% and total grain yield by 9 and 10%, respectively. Application timing of N fertilizer had no effect on hybrid corn dry weight, N content, or grain yield. However, late N fertilizer applications (200 kg N ha−1 at V10 and 67 kg N ha−1 at planting +133 kg N ha−1 at V10) resulted in greater VC N content, VC grain yield, and total yield. Assuming the harvestability of VC, the ability of a late N treatment (V10) to maximize total grain yield allows growers to use a late N application to reduce the competitive effects of VC in hybrid corn. Nomenclature: Corn, Zea mays L.

Evaluation of the Haney Soil Health Tool for corn nitrogen recommendations across eight Midwest states

Use and development of soil biological tests for estimating soil nitrogen (N) availability and subsequently corn (Zea mays L.) fertilizer N recommendations is garnering considerable interest. The objective of this research was to evaluate relationships between the Haney Soil Health Test (HSHT), also known as the Soil Health Tool or Haney test, and the economically optimum N rate (EONR) for corn grain yield at 17 sites in eight Midwest US states in 2016. Trials were conducted with a standard set of protocols that included a nonfertilized control plus six N rates applied at planting or as a split between planting and sidedress, soil samples for the HSHT prior to planting, and grain harvest at physiological maturity, and determination of EONR for each N application timing. Results indicated that HSHT recommendations with expected yield accounted for ≤28% of the variation in EONR among sites and N timings. Two components of the HSHT not directly used in the HSHT N recommendation for corn, the soil health calculation, or soil health score, and the Solvita carbon dioxide (CO2)-Burst lab test, accounted for the most variation in EONR. These two components were moderately related (R2 = 0.29 to 0.39) to soil organic matter (OM), highly related (R2 = 0.98) with each other, and subsequently both accounted for over one-half (R2 = 0.55) of the variation in EONR for N applied at planting or as a split. With additional research, these two components may help improve N recommendations for corn in the Midwest, especially Solvita CO2-Burst because it costs less to determine than the soil health calculation.

EVALUATION OF GENOTYPE BY ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS FROM UNREPLICATED MULTI-ENVIRONMENTAL TRIALS OF HYBRID MAIZE

Diverse soils and varying weather conditions not only affect overall performance of hybrid maize in multi-environment field studies, but can also cause strong genotype by environment interactions (GEI). Modern maize breeding experiments utilize multilocation trials with augmented field designs to evaluate the performance of unreplicated test hybrids. Augmented designs are resource efficient; however, these designs do not efficiently quantify or test GEI variation in the test hybrids. New methods are being developed that use random regression models to incorporate multiple environmental effects into GEI models to increase their accuracy and predictive ability. Incorporation of varying weather and soil physical variables into these models can be used to determine the potential causal factors of GEI. The identification of causal factors can assist in developing clusters of locations where homogenous performance of hybrids can be expected. The utility of the proposed approach is demonstrated with a real data analysis.