To explore the evolutionary characteristics of root physiological functions and their correlations with yield traits in wheat varieties from different decades in Henan Province, 28 representative varieties from the 1950s to the 2010s were used as materials. The varieties were grouped into seven decades. The study was conducted using outdoor pot experiments from 2023 to 2025. The root dry weight, root vigor, total nitrogen, and soluble sugar content in roots at different growth stages were systematically determined, and the yield traits were investigated. The results showed that, with the passage of time, the root dry weight of varieties from the 1970s to the 2010s decreased by 13.0% compared with that from 1950s to 1960s, showed a trend of increasing first and then decreasing and eventual stabilization during the growth period. The root-shoot ratio showed the same changing trend as the root dry weight the root-shoot ratios of varieties from the 1970s to the 2010s decreased by an average of 14.0% compared with those of the 1950s to the 1960s, and those of varieties from the 2010s decreased by 20.0% compared with the 1950s. The root vigor of the varieties from 1980 to 2010 was more stable throughout the growth period compared with that of the varieties from 1950s to 1970s, and its decline slowed down in the later growth period remained a high level. The total nitrogen and soluble sugar content in roots continued to increase, both reaching their peaks in the varieties in the 2010s, with increase rate of 25.7% and 25.6% respectively compared with the 1950s, and the peak values for both indicators occurred at the regreening stage. The yield per plant of the varieties in the 2010s increased by 56.2% compared with those in the 1950s, among the yield components, the number of panicles per plant decreased by 29.7%; the thousand-grain weight increased by 52.6%, and the number of grains per panicle increased by 3.9%. The results of the correlation analysis showed that wheat root vigor and total nitrogen concentration at regreening stage were highly significantly positively correlated with the thousand-grain weight, while soluble sugar content was positively correlated with the number of panicles per plant but negatively correlated with the thousand-grain weight during the jointing period. In summary, with the passage of time, the root dry weight and root-shoot ratio of wheat have shown a downward trend in Henan; plant dry matter was allocated more to yield formation; root vigor exhibits a temporal pattern of initial increase followed by decrease, peaking in the 1980s; the total nitrogen and soluble sugar content in roots showed an increasing trend with the advancement of release decades.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |