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Release of tartrate as a major carboxylate by alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) under phosphorus deficiency and the effect of soil nitrogen supply

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Abstract

Aims

Plant growth is often limited by low soil phosphorus (P) availability, soil nitrogen (N) availability may affect plants’ responses to P supply. We studied the growth and physiological responses of alfalfa to soil P supply at different N levels.

Methods

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) plants were grown in an alkaline soil supplied with different levels of P (0, 5, and 20 mg kg−1) as monopotassium phosphate, and N (50 and 100 mg kg−1) as ammonium nitrate.

Results

Plant biomass and P concentrations always showed positive responses to P addition but not to N addition, nodulation was inhibited by lower P supply and higher N supply. Roots released more phosphatase and carboxylates, mainly tartrate, into the rhizosheath at lower soil P supply and higher N supply. Roots always acidified the rhizosheath, but rhizosheath pH did not vary considerably among treatments.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates the release of tartrate as a major carboxylate as affected by soil P supply and N supply, and highlights the importance of investigating plant adaptive strategies for P acquisition from soil with different N availability for proper application of P and N fertilizers.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by The National Key Research and Development Plan of China (2017YFC0504504), The Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province (2019JM-411), The National Natural Science Foundation of China (41301570), The Light of West China Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities in China. We thank Xiyan Chen, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, for helping the analysis of rhizosheath carboxylates using HPLC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau/College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China

    Honghua He, Miaomiao Wu, Lei Guo, Chenbin Fan, Zekun Zhang & Rui Su

  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China

    Honghua He & Qi Peng

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Qi Peng

  4. The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6001, Australia

    Jiayin Pang & Hans Lambers

  5. UWA School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6001, Australia

    Jiayin Pang

  6. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6001, Australia

    Hans Lambers

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  1. Honghua He
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Correspondence to Honghua He.

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He, H., Wu, M., Guo, L. et al. Release of tartrate as a major carboxylate by alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) under phosphorus deficiency and the effect of soil nitrogen supply. Plant Soil 449, 169–178 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04481-9

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