An analysis of seasonal effects on leaf nitrate reductase activity and nitrogen accumulation in maize (Zea mays L.)

The important enzyme in nitrogen (N) assimilation, nitrate reductase (NR), is an inducible enzyme influenced by many external (light, temperature, etc.) and internal (genotype) factors. The efficiency of the N assimilation system may vary with genotype and season. In the present study, the effects of season on NR activity in relation to N accumulation in maize plants were investigated. Six different cultivars of maize, namely Ganga-11, Deccan-103, Histarch (hybrids), Arun, Manjari and Vijay (composites), were sown during the monsoon (88-day crop duration) and in winter (150-day crop duration). In vivo NR activity in the last fully expanded leaf (LFEL). and the N contents of the whole plant and the LFEL were estimated at seven phenological growth stages. Three different states of N metabolism in maize, namely (i) low NR activity per unit leaf area per unit time coinciding with high accumulation of N, (ii) high NR activity coinciding with low N accumulation, and (iii) low NR activity coinciding with low N accumulation, were noted. These results clearly demonstrate that the relationships between N uptake and accumulation parameters change with the season and crop growth stage and are subject to a genotypic influence. Thus it is necessary to evaluate genotypes under similar environments to select a genotype with high N use efficiency. As these relationships are growth dependent. care must be taken to evaluate them at a particular phenological stage rather than on the basis of days after sowing.