Abstract
Optimal fertilization management is critical for romaine lettuce (Lactuca dolichophylla K.) cultivation, a major economical vegetable in China. Herein, we chose a romaine lettuce genotype (Lactuca sativa L.) known for “year-round production” and as “high-yielding,” to examine the effect of varied nitrogen (N) fertilizer forms on nitrate (NO3−) accumulation. We cloned NO3− reductase (NR) and nitrite (NO2−) reductase (NiR) of romaine lettuce and analyzed their expressions at different growth stages in response to different N forms. Five N treatments with varying NO3−-N:NH4+-N ratios were examined. Our results showed that lettuce leaf NO3− content decreased significantly with the increase of NH4+-N in fertilizer. The lowest NO3− content was observed when NO3−-N:NH4+-N ratio was 0:100. NR and NiR activity and expression initially were upregulated by the increase in NO3− content, with the highest level at 70:30 NO3−-N:NH4+-N ratio, but quickly declined thereafter. We also found the temporal activation pattern of N transporters was different from that of NO3− reductase and NO2− reductase, suggesting there is a coordination between N translocation and N reduction in lettuce leaves to maintain proper N homeostasis. These findings provide insights into the role of NO3−-N:NH4+-N ratio in regulating NO3− assimilation, balancing N metabolism, and reducing NO2− toxicity in vegetable production.
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Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of the Fujian Province of China (2012J01082), Fujian Vegetable Industry and Agricultural Technology Extension Program (KNJ-152020), TW and FJ Vegetable Germplasm Resources, Industry Extension Program (KF2015110), the Innovation and Service Platform of Facility Vegetable Seed Industry in Fuzhou, China (2017-PT-113) and the Major Science and Technology Projects of the Fujian Province of China (2013N2001).
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Conceived and designed the experiments: FZ JL SW SR. Performed the experiments: FZ JL JW. Analyzed the data: FZ JL YL XZ IZ. Contributed materials: JP. Wrote the paper: FZ JL SW.
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Zhong, F., Wang, S., Lin, J. et al. Characterization of nitrate assimilation in Lactuca sativa L. under different nitrogen sources. Plant Growth Regul 86, 1–10 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-018-0404-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-018-0404-6