Patterns of plant biomass partitioning depend on nitrogen source

Nitrogen (N) availability is a strong determinant of plant biomass partitioning, but the role of different N sources in this process is unknown. Plants inhabiting low productivity ecosystems typically partition a large share of total biomass to belowground structures. In these systems, organic N may...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2011-04, Vol.6 (4), p.e19211-e19211
Main Authors: Cambui, Camila Aguetoni, Svennerstam, Henrik, Gruffman, Linda, Nordin, Annika, Ganeteg, Ulrika, Näsholm, Torgny
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino acids
Arabidopsis
Arabidopsis - growth & development
Arabidopsis - metabolism
Arabidopsis thaliana
Biology
Biomass
Ecosystems
Forest Science
Homeostasis
Labeling
Labelling
Nitrates
Nitrogen
Nitrogen - metabolism
Partitioning
Physiology
Plant biomass
Plant Development
Plants (botany)
Plants (organisms)
Plants - metabolism
Productivity
Roots
Skogsvetenskap
Tobacco
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Summary:Nitrogen (N) availability is a strong determinant of plant biomass partitioning, but the role of different N sources in this process is unknown. Plants inhabiting low productivity ecosystems typically partition a large share of total biomass to belowground structures. In these systems, organic N may often dominate plant available N. With increasing productivity, plant biomass partitioning shifts to aboveground structures, along with a shift in available N to inorganic forms of N. We tested the hypothesis that the form of N taken up by plants is an important determinant of plant biomass partitioning by cultivating Arabidopsis thaliana on different N source mixtures. Plants grown on different N mixtures were similar in size, but those supplied with organic N displayed a significantly greater root fraction. ¹⁵N labelling suggested that, in this case, a larger share of absorbed organic N was retained in roots and split-root experiments suggested this may depend on a direct incorporation of absorbed amino acid N into roots. These results suggest the form of N acquired affects plant biomass partitioning and adds new information on the interaction between N and biomass partitioning in plants.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0019211