Abstract
Salinity stress is a limiting factor for wheat production and food security. Water retention agent has been established as one soil conditioner to reduce soil water loss and improve crop yield. In this study, we designed a new compound water retention agent (CWRA) and tried to explore the response of the wheat after application in saline-alkali soil. In this two-year field and pot experiments, we set up a gradient dosage (15 kg ha-1, 30 kg ha-1, 45 kg ha-1) of CWRA, and a quantitative dosage (30 kg ha-1) of attapulgite water retention agent (AWRA), to investigate their effects on the nutrient accumulation, nutrient transport-related genes and yield of winter wheat in saline-alkali soil. Based on the results of our experiments, we found that: the treatments with water retention agent significantly increased the expression levels of the TaAMT1.1, TaGS1, and TaPHT2;1 genes, prolonged the growth period and increase grain yield, and improves water-use efficiency. It provided a theoretical and practical basis for the application of CWRA to saline-alkali soil planting.