Root trait plasticity and plant nutrient acquisition in phosphorus limited soil
(2019) In Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 182(6). p.945-952- Abstract
- To overcome soil nutrient limitation, many plants have developed complex nutrient acquisition strategies including altering root morphology, root hair formation or colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). The interactions of these strategies and their plasticity are, however, affected by soil nutrient status throughout plant growth. Such plasticity is decisive for plant phosphorus (P) acquisition in P‐limited soils. We investigated the P acquisition strategies and their plasticity of two maize genotypes characterized by the presence or absence of root hairs. We hypothesized that in the absence of root hairs plant growth is facilitated by traits with complementary functions, e.g., by higher root mycorrhizal colonization. This... (More)
- To overcome soil nutrient limitation, many plants have developed complex nutrient acquisition strategies including altering root morphology, root hair formation or colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). The interactions of these strategies and their plasticity are, however, affected by soil nutrient status throughout plant growth. Such plasticity is decisive for plant phosphorus (P) acquisition in P‐limited soils. We investigated the P acquisition strategies and their plasticity of two maize genotypes characterized by the presence or absence of root hairs. We hypothesized that in the absence of root hairs plant growth is facilitated by traits with complementary functions, e.g., by higher root mycorrhizal colonization. This dependence on complementary traits will decrease in P fertilized soils. At early growth stages, root hairs are of little benefit for nutrient uptake. Regardless of the presence or absence of root hairs, plants produced average root biomass of 0.14 g per plant and exhibited 23% root mycorrhizal colonization. At later growth stages of maize, contrasting mechanisms with functional complementarity explained similar plant biomass production under P limitation: the presence of root hairs versus higher root mycorrhizal colonization (67%) favored by increased fine root diameter in absence of root hairs. P fertilization decreased the dependence of plant on specific root traits for nutrient acquisition. Through root trait plasticity, plants can minimize trade‐offs for developing and maintaining functional traits, while increasing the benefit in terms of nutrient acquisition and plant growth. The present study highlights the plasticity of functional root traits for efficient nutrient acquisition strategies in agricultural systems with low nutrient availability. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/14fe147d-da71-4240-9b7e-c1c034636106
- author
- Kumar, Amit ; Shahbaz, Muhammad LU ; Koirala, Manisha ; Blagodatskaya, Evgenia ; Seidel, Sabine Julia ; Kuzyakov, Yakov and Pausch, Johanna
- organization
- publishing date
- 2019-09-18
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization, Nutrient acquisition, Root hairs, Root morphology, Roothairless3 mutan, Root traits
- in
- Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
- volume
- 182
- issue
- 6
- pages
- 8 pages
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85073924373
- ISSN
- 1436-8730
- DOI
- 10.1002/jpln.201900322
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 14fe147d-da71-4240-9b7e-c1c034636106
- date added to LUP
- 2019-10-23 13:02:53
- date last changed
- 2022-04-18 18:19:34
@article{14fe147d-da71-4240-9b7e-c1c034636106,
abstract = {{To overcome soil nutrient limitation, many plants have developed complex nutrient acquisition strategies including altering root morphology, root hair formation or colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). The interactions of these strategies and their plasticity are, however, affected by soil nutrient status throughout plant growth. Such plasticity is decisive for plant phosphorus (P) acquisition in P‐limited soils. We investigated the P acquisition strategies and their plasticity of two maize genotypes characterized by the presence or absence of root hairs. We hypothesized that in the absence of root hairs plant growth is facilitated by traits with complementary functions, e.g., by higher root mycorrhizal colonization. This dependence on complementary traits will decrease in P fertilized soils. At early growth stages, root hairs are of little benefit for nutrient uptake. Regardless of the presence or absence of root hairs, plants produced average root biomass of 0.14 g per plant and exhibited 23% root mycorrhizal colonization. At later growth stages of maize, contrasting mechanisms with functional complementarity explained similar plant biomass production under P limitation: the presence of root hairs versus higher root mycorrhizal colonization (67%) favored by increased fine root diameter in absence of root hairs. P fertilization decreased the dependence of plant on specific root traits for nutrient acquisition. Through root trait plasticity, plants can minimize trade‐offs for developing and maintaining functional traits, while increasing the benefit in terms of nutrient acquisition and plant growth. The present study highlights the plasticity of functional root traits for efficient nutrient acquisition strategies in agricultural systems with low nutrient availability.}},
author = {{Kumar, Amit and Shahbaz, Muhammad and Koirala, Manisha and Blagodatskaya, Evgenia and Seidel, Sabine Julia and Kuzyakov, Yakov and Pausch, Johanna}},
issn = {{1436-8730}},
keywords = {{Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization; Nutrient acquisition; Root hairs; Root morphology; Roothairless3 mutan; Root traits}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{09}},
number = {{6}},
pages = {{945--952}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science}},
title = {{Root trait plasticity and plant nutrient acquisition in phosphorus limited soil}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jpln.201900322}},
doi = {{10.1002/jpln.201900322}},
volume = {{182}},
year = {{2019}},
}