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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Is there a critical level of shoot phosphorus concentration for cluster-root formation in Lupinus albus?

Haigang Li A , Jianbo Shen A D , Fusuo Zhang A , Caixian Tang B and Hans Lambers C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Plant Nutrition, Key Laboratory of Plant–Soil Interaction (Ministry of Education), China Agricultural University, Beijing 100094, China.

B Department of Agricultural Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Vic. 3086, Australia.

C School of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: jbshen@cau.edu.cn

Functional Plant Biology 35(4) 328-336 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP07222
Submitted: 17 September 2007  Accepted: 4 April 2008   Published: 3 June 2008

Abstract

This study examined the effects of localised phosphorus (P) supply on cluster-root formation and citrate exudation in white lupin (Lupinus albus L. cv. Kiev Mutant). White lupin plants were grown in nutrient solutions with a range of P supplies in a split-root system with one root half deprived of P and the other root supplied with 0, 2, 5, 8, 10 or 75 μm P. Plants were also grown in soil with or without organic matter added to the top layer. The proportion of cluster roots as a percentage of the total root biomass decreased similarly on both root halves with increasing P supply in the hydroponic experiments. More than 18% of the P taken up by the P-supplied root halves was incorporated into the P-deprived halves. Irrespective of the P supply or organic matter addition in the experiments, the proportion of cluster roots and the rate of citrate exudation decreased sharply with increasing P concentration in the shoots up to a critical level of 2–3 mg P g–1 dry weight. In contrast, the rate of proton release was higher in P-deprived root halves than in P-supplied ones. The formation of cluster roots is regulated by shoot P concentration with a critical level of 2–3 mg g–1. Citrate exudation is predominantly governed by shoot P status, whereas proton release strongly responds to local P supply.

Additional keywords: citrate exudation, localised P deficiency, proton release, split-root system.


Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Basic Research Program (973-2007CB109302), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30471033), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (No. NCET-06-0112) and the Program for Changjiang Scholar and Innovation Research Team in University (No. IRT0511) of China. We thank Professor Zed Rengel (The University of Western Australia) for comments on the manuscript.


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