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Kinetics of ammonium and nitrate uptake among wild and cultivated tomatoes

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Summary

Concentration dependence of net ammonium and nitrate uptake was monitored for a cultivar of tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum, and two accessions of a neotropical wild relative, L. hirsutum. The kinetics of net NH +4 uptake differed among these taxa and were not dependent on the ionic composition of the nutrient solution. The kinetics of net NO -3 uptake were dependent on the composition of the nutrient solution; the presence of NH +4 or Cl- enhanced net NO -3 uptake for the cultivated species and for a highland accession of the wild species. The capacity for net NO -3 uptake was greater than the capacity for net NH +4 uptake in all three taxa; the proportion of NO -3 to NH +4 absorbed was much greater for the wild taxa. Our data suggest that NO -3 may be a more important source of mineral nitrogen than NH +4 for these tropical taxa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, 95616, Davis, CA, USA

    David R. Smart & Arnold J. Bloom

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  1. David R. Smart
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  2. Arnold J. Bloom
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Smart, D.R., Bloom, A.J. Kinetics of ammonium and nitrate uptake among wild and cultivated tomatoes. Oecologia 76, 336–340 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00377026

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