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Effects of drought on non-structural carbohydrates and C, N, and P stoichiometric characteristics of Pinus yunnanensis seedlings

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Abstract

To study non-structural carbohydrate characteristics and nutrient utilization strategies of Pinus yunnanensis under continuous drought conditions, 2-year-old seedlings were planted in pots with appropriate water, light and moderate and severe drought treatments [(80 ± 5), (65 ± 5), (50 ± 5), and (35 ± 5)% of field water-holding capacity]. Non-structural carbohydrates, carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) concentrations were measured in each plant component. The results show that: (1) With increasing drought, non-structural carbohydrates gradually increased in leaves, stems, and coarse roots, while gradually decreased in fine roots; (2) C concentrations of all were relatively stable under different stress levels. Phosphorous utilization of each component increased under light and moderate drought conditions, while N and P utilization efficiency of each plant component decreased under severe drought. Growth was mainly restricted by N, first decreasing and then increasing with increased drought; (3) There was a correlation between the levels of non-structural carbohydrates and C, N, and P in each component. Changes in N concentration affected the interconversion between soluble sugar and starch, which play a regulatory role in the fluctuation of the concentration of non-structural carbohydrates; and, (4) Plasticity analysis showed that P. yunnanensis seedlings responded to drought mainly by altering starch concentration, the ratio of soluble sugar to starch in leaves and stems, and further by altering N and P utilization efficiencies. Overall, these results suggest that the physiological activities of all organs of P. yunnanensis seedlings are restricted under drought and that trade-offs exist between different physiological indicators and organs. Our findings are helpful in understanding non-structural carbohydrate and nutrient adaptation mechanisms under drought in P. yunnanensis seedlings.

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Data availability

The datasets are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank LetPub (www.letpub.com) for its linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Forestry, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, 650224, Yunnan, People’s Republic of China

    Zhijuan Zhao, Lina Wang, Yuanxi Liu, Jianli Sun, Jiandong Xiao, Qiong Dong, Lianfang Li, Wanjie Zhang, Chao Wang & Junwen Wu

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  1. Zhijuan Zhao
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Contributions

ZZ wrote the manuscript, JW designed the experiments, provided critical revisions and final approval of the article. LW, YL, JS and JX carried out the experiments and ran the data. All authors helped to write and approve the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Junwen Wu.

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Project funding: This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31960306).

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Corresponding editor: Yanbo Hu.

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Zhao, Z., Wang, L., Liu, Y. et al. Effects of drought on non-structural carbohydrates and C, N, and P stoichiometric characteristics of Pinus yunnanensis seedlings. J. For. Res. 35, 12 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-023-01667-6

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