Sulfur Application Improves the Nutritional Quality of Maize by Regulating the Amino Acid Balance of Grains
As a crucial staple crop in agricultural production, maize is extensively cultivated worldwide and plays a pivotal role in ensuring global food security. However, the significant deficiency of essential amino acids (EAA) and conditionally essential amino acids (CEAA), such as lysine (Lys), tryptopha...
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| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/13/12/2912 |
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| author | Honglin Wang Shuai Cui Jianan Fu Huadong Gong Shuoran Liu |
| author_facet | Honglin Wang Shuai Cui Jianan Fu Huadong Gong Shuoran Liu |
| author_sort | Honglin Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As a crucial staple crop in agricultural production, maize is extensively cultivated worldwide and plays a pivotal role in ensuring global food security. However, the significant deficiency of essential amino acids (EAA) and conditionally essential amino acids (CEAA), such as lysine (Lys), tryptophan (Trp), methionine (Met), and cysteine (Cys), leads to an imbalance of amino acids in the grain. This study investigates the regulatory mechanism of sulfur (S) application for regulating the amino acid balance of maize grains. The results demonstrate that S application has substantial effects on both the maize yield and nutritional quality. The S application resulted in an increase in maize yield by simultaneously enhancing the grain number per ear (GN) and 100-grain weight (GW), while S application elevated protein concentration through the augmentation of Cys concentration in maize grains. Furthermore, the Cys in grains optimizes the amino acid balance by regulating the ratio of other amino acids, thereby enhancing the nutritional quality of maize while ensuring a steady increase in protein concentration, simultaneously. Overall, the S application at 60–90 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> synergistically improved both the yield and nutritional quality of maize, meeting the requirements for sustainable development in maize production. The findings offer a novel theoretical foundation and nutrient management approach for achieving high-yield and superior-quality maize production. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:04:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-81e4c36b3791492a8f3027163ae1b311 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:04:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-81e4c36b3791492a8f3027163ae1b3112023-12-22T13:46:18ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952023-11-011312291210.3390/agronomy13122912Sulfur Application Improves the Nutritional Quality of Maize by Regulating the Amino Acid Balance of GrainsHonglin Wang0Shuai Cui1Jianan Fu2Huadong Gong3Shuoran Liu4School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaKey Laboratory of Sustainable Utilization of Soil Resources in The Commodity Grain Bases of Jilin Province, College of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, ChinaSchool of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaSchool of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaSchool of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaAs a crucial staple crop in agricultural production, maize is extensively cultivated worldwide and plays a pivotal role in ensuring global food security. However, the significant deficiency of essential amino acids (EAA) and conditionally essential amino acids (CEAA), such as lysine (Lys), tryptophan (Trp), methionine (Met), and cysteine (Cys), leads to an imbalance of amino acids in the grain. This study investigates the regulatory mechanism of sulfur (S) application for regulating the amino acid balance of maize grains. The results demonstrate that S application has substantial effects on both the maize yield and nutritional quality. The S application resulted in an increase in maize yield by simultaneously enhancing the grain number per ear (GN) and 100-grain weight (GW), while S application elevated protein concentration through the augmentation of Cys concentration in maize grains. Furthermore, the Cys in grains optimizes the amino acid balance by regulating the ratio of other amino acids, thereby enhancing the nutritional quality of maize while ensuring a steady increase in protein concentration, simultaneously. Overall, the S application at 60–90 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> synergistically improved both the yield and nutritional quality of maize, meeting the requirements for sustainable development in maize production. The findings offer a novel theoretical foundation and nutrient management approach for achieving high-yield and superior-quality maize production.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/13/12/2912amino acid balancecysteinesulfurmaize |
| spellingShingle | Honglin Wang Shuai Cui Jianan Fu Huadong Gong Shuoran Liu Sulfur Application Improves the Nutritional Quality of Maize by Regulating the Amino Acid Balance of Grains Agronomy amino acid balance cysteine sulfur maize |
| title | Sulfur Application Improves the Nutritional Quality of Maize by Regulating the Amino Acid Balance of Grains |
| title_full | Sulfur Application Improves the Nutritional Quality of Maize by Regulating the Amino Acid Balance of Grains |
| title_fullStr | Sulfur Application Improves the Nutritional Quality of Maize by Regulating the Amino Acid Balance of Grains |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sulfur Application Improves the Nutritional Quality of Maize by Regulating the Amino Acid Balance of Grains |
| title_short | Sulfur Application Improves the Nutritional Quality of Maize by Regulating the Amino Acid Balance of Grains |
| title_sort | sulfur application improves the nutritional quality of maize by regulating the amino acid balance of grains |
| topic | amino acid balance cysteine sulfur maize |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/13/12/2912 |
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