Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science最新文献

{"title":"Guard Cell-Specific Metabolic Responses to Drought Stress in Maize","authors":"Patrick Pascal Lehr,&nbsp;Alexander Erban,&nbsp;Roman Paul Hartwig,&nbsp;Monika Andrea Wimmer,&nbsp;Joachim Kopka,&nbsp;Christian Zörb","doi":"10.1111/jac.70049","DOIUrl":"10.1111/jac.70049","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding crop responses to drought stress is crucial for securing future agricultural productivity. Guard cells regulate transpiration and thus the yield burden under drought conditions. Therefore, the influence of repeated drought stress on the guard cell metabolome of <i>Zea mays</i> L. was investigated to improve our understanding of crop resilience mechanisms. A controlled greenhouse experiment with physiological evaluation and a non-targeted metabolomics approach was used to analyse unprimed and primed guard cells. Primed and unprimed maize plants showed similar overall physiological and metabolic responses to drought, with gas exchange and general metabolic patterns largely unaffected by priming. However, distinct priming effects emerged in specific metabolites. Metabolites of the alanine and aspartate pathway, as well as those of the glycine, serine and threonine pathway were less impacted by drought stress in guard cells than in mesophyll cells, suggesting the emphasis of plants to maintain stable guard cell metabolomes for functional integrity. In contrast, the increase in sugar concentrations in guard cells was similar to that in mesophyll cells, suggesting a pivotal role of sugars in guard cells during drought conditions. New insights into cell type-specific metabolic responses to drought stress will contribute to a better understanding of stress memory in maize. Enhancing guard cell resilience could help optimise water use efficiency for sustainable agricultural production under climate change conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":14864,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science","volume":"211 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jac.70049","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143665920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Screening and Microcapsule Preparation of Dark Septate Endophytes for Increasing Wheat Yield Under Drought Conditions","authors":"Qiannan Ye,&nbsp;Wenyi Shi,&nbsp;Bolin Li,&nbsp;Xia Li,&nbsp;Bin Lu,&nbsp;Minghui Xu,&nbsp;Xueli He","doi":"10.1111/jac.70051","DOIUrl":"10.1111/jac.70051","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Drought is a major threat to wheat production. Utilising microbial inoculant technology to enhance crop drought resistance to achieve high yield has emerged as a promising strategy. Dark septate endophytes (DSEs) can improve plant drought resistance; however, there is little research on the DSE inoculant preparation. In this study, two dominant DSE strains, <i>Alternaria alstroemeriae</i> (<i>Aa</i>) and <i>Paraphoma chrysanthemicola</i> (<i>Pc</i>) were screened through the DSE inoculation experiment of wheat under drought stress. Finally, the optimal embedding material ratio of DSE microcapsules was obtained by measuring the embedding rate, and the degradation rate of prepared microcapsules was evaluated. The results indicated that <i>Aa</i> and <i>Pc</i> significantly increased the tiller number and biomass of wheat under drought stress, and the yield and quality indices of wheat, including spike length, spike weight, grain number, thousand grain weight and alcohol-soluble protein and soluble sugar content in the grain, also significantly increased. The results of microcapsule preparation optimisation revealed that the optimal reagent ratio was 4% sodium alginate, 3% calcium chloride, 1% kaolin and 1% trehalose. The degradation rate of the microcapsules prepared under the optimal conditions increased significantly at 5–15 days and then stabilised. This study is highly important for improving crop productivity in arid areas and provides a theoretical basis for the microbial inoculant preparation.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14864,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science","volume":"211 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143665919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond Energy: How Small-Molecule Sugars Fuel Seed Life and Shape Next-Generation Crop Technologies","authors":"Bilquees Bozdar,&nbsp;Nazir Ahmed,&nbsp;Panfeng Tu,&nbsp;Zhen Hua Li","doi":"10.1111/jac.70050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.70050","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Small-molecule sugars, such as glucose, sucrose, trehalose and raffinose, are essential for seed germination, seedling establishment and stress resilience. These sugars act as both energy sources and signalling molecules, regulating osmotic balance, gene expression and critical metabolic pathways involved in early growth. Key enzymes, including α-amylase (<i>AMY1</i> and <i>AMY2</i>), hexokinase (<i>HXK1</i>) and sucrose-phosphate synthase (SPS), facilitate carbohydrate mobilisation during germination, fueling glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). Hormonal interactions, particularly with gibberellins (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA), integrate sugar metabolism with developmental and environmental cues. Sugar transport proteins, such as Sugars Will Eventually be Exported Transporters (SWEET), Sucrose Transporters (SUT) and Tonoplast Sugar Transporters (TST), ensure efficient distribution to growing tissues, whereas SNF1-related kinase 1 (SnRK1) modulates growth and stress responses, maintaining cellular energy homeostasis. Innovative seed treatments, such as sugar priming, biopriming and encapsulation, have proven effective in improving germination rates, stress tolerance and seedling vigour by optimising osmotic regulation, metabolic activation and microbial interactions. Sugar-based treatments offer substantial potential for enhancing crop productivity and resilience. Future research should focus on refining these strategies, exploring sugar–hormone interactions and using genomic tools to advance crop improvement. Thus, small-molecule sugars hold transformative potential for sustainable agriculture, providing a route to enhance seed technology and adaptability to global environmental challenges.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14864,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science","volume":"211 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143632638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Monitoring Maize Growth Using a Model for Objective Weight Assignment Based on Multispectral Data From UAV","authors":"Jinghua Zhao,&nbsp;Tingrui Yang,&nbsp;Feng Liu,&nbsp;Shijiao Ma,&nbsp;Mingjie Ma,&nbsp;Yingying Yuan","doi":"10.1111/jac.70039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.70039","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Agricultural development and production management crucially depend on efficient and accurate acquisition of crop growth information. This study focuses on maize, employing drones to monitor its growth based on metrics such as plant height (PH), SPAD values and leaf area index (LAI). Using the entropy weighting method (EWM) and coefficient of variation method (CV), comprehensive growth indices, CGMI_EWM and CGMI_CV, were developed. These indices were correlated with 10 vegetation indices to select those with significant relevance. Subsequently, three machine learning methods—partial least squares (PLS), random forest (RF) and particle swarm optimisation-enhanced random forest (PSO-RF)—were utilised to construct models for inversely monitoring maize growth. The optimal model was determined through evaluative metrics, leading to the acquisition of spatial distribution information on maize growth within the study area. The results indicate that the CGMI_EWM derived from the entropy weight method shows a higher correlation than individual indices, significantly enhancing model precision over traditional single-index monitoring. Among the modelling techniques, the PSO-RF model achieved the best predictive accuracy for CGMI_EMW, with a coefficient of determination (<i>R</i>²) of 0.751, root mean square error (<i>RMSE</i>) of 0.102 and mean absolute error (<i>MAE</i>) of 0.074, indicating superior estimation precision over CGMI_CV. Based on the optimal model PSO-RF-CGMI_EMW, the spatial distribution and statistical results of maize inversion imagery demonstrate that the simulation results align well with the experimental data, indicating a good performance of the simulation inversion. This study investigates the development of a model for monitoring maize growth stages and evaluates the effectiveness of the monitoring. The findings verify the precision and reliability of this method, providing vital insights for maize growth monitoring and field management.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14864,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science","volume":"211 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143632636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sustainability of Maize–Soybean Rotation for Future Climate Change Scenarios in Northeast China","authors":"Rui Liu,&nbsp;Hongrun Liu,&nbsp;Tianqun Wang,&nbsp;Ting Wang,&nbsp;Zhenzong Lu,&nbsp;Xue Yuan,&nbsp;Zhenwei Song,&nbsp;Runzhi Li","doi":"10.1111/jac.70033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.70033","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Climate change poses a global challenge to agricultural production and food security, especially in developing countries. In Northeast China, a major grain-producing region, the Maize–Soybean rotation is crucial for sustainable agricultural development. However, previous studies have mainly focused on single crops and lacked attention to soil health and regional scale analysis. This study utilises the APSIM model to predict crop yields and soil organic carbon (SOC) under two Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5 (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) future climate scenarios in different latitude regions of Northeast China. The result shows that climate change has significant spatial and temporal variations on crop yield and soil organic carbon storage in the Maize–Soybean rotation system. Compared to the baseline (1980–2010), maize yields change from −11.6 to 42.8 kg 10a⁻¹ (RCP4.5) and 7.1 to 39.8 kg 10a⁻¹ (RCP8.5), and soybean yields vary from −13.1 to 3.9 kg 10a⁻¹ (RCP4.5) and −16.2 to −5.6 kg 10a⁻¹ (RCP8.5). SOC increases slowly from 0 to 20 cm and decreases from 20 to 40 cm, resulting in a decrease of 21–334 kg ha⁻¹ 10a⁻¹ (RCP4.5) and 26–280 kg ha⁻¹ 10a⁻¹ (RCP8.5) in predicted future soil organic carbon storage. PLS-PM results show that future precipitation change has a negative impact on SOC accumulation, and temperature rise in the RCP8.5 scenario has a negative impact on SOC storage. SOC storage is positively correlated with crop yields, and the correlation is stronger under RCP8.5, which has a higher explanation for crop yields changes. Climate change significantly affects crop yields and SOC stocks in the Maize–Soybean rotation system of Northeastern China, especially during extreme weather. Therefore, adaptation strategies should fit local needs, early-maturing regions opt for drought-resistant, early varieties and employ conservation tillage and water-saving methods, while medium and late-maturing areas select late varieties, adjust sowing and enhance fertiliser efficiency.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14864,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science","volume":"211 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143622466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Barley miRNAs and Their Targets Regulation in Response to Heat Stress at the Early Stage of Development","authors":"Katarzyna Kruszka,&nbsp;Andrzej Pacak,&nbsp;Aleksandra Swida-Barteczka,&nbsp;Jacek Kesy,&nbsp;Artur Jarmolowski,&nbsp;Zofia Szweykowska-Kulinska","doi":"10.1111/jac.70045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.70045","url":null,"abstract":"<p>MiRNAs are key regulators of gene expression, controlling plant development and response to environmental stresses. In this work, we studied the global dynamics of the accumulation of conserved and identified novel barley miRNAs at an early stage of plant development during heat stress (1 h, 3 h and 6 h of heat stress). The majority of miRNAs respond to heat stress after 3 h and 6 h of heat stress duration (124 and 155, respectively). The comparison of heat-induced changes in mature miRNA accumulation to their cognate precursor levels allowed us to indicate a smaller group of miRNAs that are controlled at the transcriptional level and a larger group that is controlled post-transcriptionally in response to heat stress. For miRNAs with significant accumulation changes during heat treatment, target mRNAs were identified. Moreover, novel targets have been experimentally assigned for selected miRNAs. mRNA of the effector protein of miRNA activity, AGO1B, was found to be downregulated by increased miR168 during heat stress. Importantly, the miRNA/mRNA target module miR399c/PHO2, responsible for phosphorus uptake, exhibits dynamic changes under heat stress conditions, suggesting adaptation of plant development to stress conditions. This study provides new data for developing miRNA and their mRNA target-based strategies in barley breeding in response to heat stress.</p>","PeriodicalId":14864,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science","volume":"211 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jac.70045","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143622467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to “Optimising Potassium Levels Improved the Lodging Resistance Index and Soybean Yield in Maize-Soybean Intercropping by Enhanced Stem Diameter and Lignin Synthesis Enzyme Activity”","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/jac.70046","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.70046","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Gu, Y., Guo, D., Li, C., Zheng, C., Li, X., He, F., Tang, Q., Yu, J. and Ren, H. (2025), Optimising Potassium Levels Improved the Lodging Resistance Index and Soybean Yield in Maize-Soybean Intercropping by Enhanced Stem Diameter and Lignin Synthesis Enzyme Activity. <i>J Agro Crop Sci</i>, 211: e70036. https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.70036</p><p>This article had been published online with the incorrectly stated funding text below:</p><p>This research was funded by the Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Plan Project (nos. 20220508097RC, 20230508003RC) and Ning Jiang District Black Soil Protection Monitoring Center, Song Yuan, China.</p><p>The funding has been corrected in the article to state the text below:</p><p>This research was funded by the Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Plan Project (nos. 20220508097RC, 20230508003RC).</p><p>We apologise for this error.</p>","PeriodicalId":14864,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science","volume":"211 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jac.70046","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143602548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shoot Apex Differentiation on Freezing Resistance and its Regulatory Genes in the Wheat Seedling Stage","authors":"Chenglong Zhang,&nbsp;Wei Zhao,&nbsp;Guorui Li,&nbsp;Cicong Zhao,&nbsp;Shuo Yuan,&nbsp;Fuzhi Zhang,&nbsp;Kankan Peng,&nbsp;Fengmei Gao,&nbsp;Dan Sun,&nbsp;Lianshuang Fu,&nbsp;Xiaonan Wang","doi":"10.1111/jac.70037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Evaluating the biological mechanism of winter wheat in resisting freezing stress is important. The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of the shoot apex differentiation status on freezing resistance in wheat and identify regulatory genes. Nongda 5181 (ND5181) and its ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-mutated wheat lines were used as research materials. Three wheat varieties showed strong freezing resistance and slow shoot apex differentiation, whereas the other three wheat varieties showed weak freezing resistance and rapid shoot apex differentiation. The results showed that plants with faster shoot apex development differentiated into the double-ridge stage before overwintering, and the re-greening rate was lower than 50%. In contrast, wheat with slower shoot apex differentiation differentiated into the elongation or single-ridge stages, and the re-greening rate exceeded 90%. To identify the genes affecting wheat shoot apex differentiation, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was employed to analyse differentially expressed genes in ND5181 and M-8052 (with slower shoot apex differentiation). At the three-leaf stage, most of the ND5181 highly expressed genes were chlorophyll synthesis, protein synthesis-related and resistance genes, whereas those of M-8052 samples were histones and ribosomal proteins. After the three-leaf stage at 40 days, most of the highly expressed genes in ND5181 were related to energy metabolism, development and resistance, whereas those of M-8052 were protein synthesis-related genes or resistance genes.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14864,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science","volume":"211 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143581854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Do Decision Support Tools Allow Farmers to be Better Advised on Nitrogen Fertilisation in Wheat—Rapeseed Crops Succession in Northern France?","authors":"M.- A. Bouchard,&nbsp;A. L. H. Andriamandroso,&nbsp;A. Siah,&nbsp;C. Waterlot,&nbsp;B. Vandoorne,&nbsp;K. S. Andrianarisoa","doi":"10.1111/jac.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.70032","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The use of sensor- or model-based decision support tools (DSTs) is encouraged to manage crop nitrogen (N) fertilisation, but studies evaluating the obtained advice at the crop succession scale are lacking. The aim of this work was to compare the agronomic performance between the advice obtained by DSTs and that obtained by the reference balance sheet method (BSM) regarding the N fertiliser dose and to evaluate the consequences for soil mineral N (SMN) dynamics. In this investigation, we studied winter wheat/rapeseed/winter wheat crop succession at two experimental sites in northern France according to a randomised block design with four replications. Microplots receiving N fertiliser doses determined by two sensor-based techniques (proximal sensing or PS and remote sensing with a UAV or RS-U) and one model-based DST (dynamic balance model or DBM) were compared to those receiving N fertiliser doses determined by the BSM and to the unfertilised control (T0) plot. In 67% of the studied cases, the N fertiliser dose determined by DSTs was higher than that determined by the BSM, without significant increases in the grain yield and quality: DBM (five out of six cases) &gt; PS (four out of six cases) &gt; RS-U (three out of six cases). The difference in the recommended N fertiliser dose between the DSTs and BSM ranged from −29 to +80 kg N ha⁻¹. The surplus of applied N was underutilised by crops, particularly during dry years, leading to overfertilisation. In our experimental condition, beyond an overfertilisation value of 42 kg N ha⁻¹, a positive relationship was observed between the excess of SMN observed at harvest (<i>R</i>² = 0.39***) and the overfertilisation. Our results indicated high variability of the recommended N fertiliser dose depending on the chosen DSTs, eventually inducing overfertilisation and excess SMN at harvest without significant changes in the grain yield and quality. We consider that improving the analysis of plant or soil N status evolution whilst considering weather parameters in DSTs should improve the accuracy of the provided N fertilisation advice.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14864,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science","volume":"211 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143565025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Capability of Photochemical Reflectance Index to Track Maize Canopy Radiation Use Efficiency and Its Drivers Under Soil Drying","authors":"Huailin Zhou,&nbsp;Qijin He,&nbsp;Guangsheng Zhou,&nbsp;Xingyang Song","doi":"10.1111/jac.70044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.70044","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Photochemical reflectance index (PRI) has been a promising indicator for estimating vegetation photosynthetic efficiency. However, its capability to track drought stress-induced changes in canopy radiation use efficiency (RUE) and the underlying mechanisms remains insufficiently explored, largely due to the confounding effects of soil background and canopy characteristics. This study aimed to explain how the canopy PRI responds to drought stress and quantify the relative contributions of soil moisture and canopy characteristics to its variability. Using maize field experimental data across varying drought treatments, we found that drought significantly altered the PRI-RUE relationship, with canopy PRI exhibiting a stronger correlation with RUE under increasing soil drying. This enhancement in the PRI-RUE relationship was primarily attributed to changes in canopy structure and physiological characteristics. Specifically, the fraction of absorbed photosynthetic available radiation (fAPAR), canopy water content (CWC) and canopy chlorophyll content (CCC) were more related to PRI than leaf area index (LAI). While available soil water content (ASWC) was not directly linked to PRI, a positive linear relationship emerged after accounting for the effects of canopy characteristics, particularly fAPAR. Furthermore, fAPAR and LAI were identified as the most important direct and indirect factors influencing canopy PRI, respectively. These findings underscore the importance of considering fAPAR's contribution to accurately estimate photosynthetic efficiency and monitor crop stress under soil drying scenarios. By demonstrating how drought strengthens the PRI-RUE relationship and elucidating its underlying mechanisms, this study provides insights for improving crop stress monitoring and photosynthetic capacity assessment.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":14864,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science","volume":"211 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143554585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}