Abstract
Drought exacerbates the limitation of phosphorus (P) deficiency to crop growth and agricultural production. Leaf P resorption is an efficient strategy that a plant develops to cope with P deficiency. However, few studies have explored the involvement of phosphatases in leaf P resorption. A controlled field experiment with P fertilization and irrigation was conducted with lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) during 2016–2018 to assess the influence of P fertilization and water supply on soil nutrient status, soil and leaf phosphatases, and leaf P resorption in the Loess Plateau of eastern Gansu Province, China. Water supply decreased leaf P resorption efficiency (PRE) of lucerne, which was interactively affected by P fertilization. The P fertilization decreased leaf PRE under lower water supply, while increased leaf PRE under higher water supply. Water supply and P fertilization affected leaf acid phosphatase (ACPleaf) activity in a stand age-specific way, while barely affected soil phosphatases activities. The ACPleaf activity was lower in the 2-year stand than 3-year stand. Leaf PRE was negatively correlated with soil P stock (SPS), while leaf P concentration was positively correlated with SPS. The ACPleaf activity was negatively correlated with leaf total P concentration, while soil phosphatases activities were positively correlated with SPS. Leaf PRE was directly positively correlated with the senesced leaf ACP activity, while had no significant correlation with soil phosphatases activities. The study confirms partly the effects of water supply and P fertilization on regulating leaf P resorption, and further reveals the mechanism from the biochemical aspect. The findings have highlighted that ACPleaf plays a role in leaf P reabsorbing process, but soil phosphatases do not. Therefore, an increase in ACPleaf activity induced by P deficiency may lead to an increase in leaf PRE. In addition, the role of soil phosphatases in affecting leaf P resorption needs more exploration.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We appreciated very much the help from Dr Jiaoyun Lu, Ms Feifei You, and Mr Juncheng Li for assistance in field sampling and lab measurement. As Newton said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”; this work would be impossible without the previous valuable researches.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 32201475 and 32171679) and the earmarked fund for China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-34).
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42729_2022_1087_MOESM1_ESM.jpg
Supplementary file1 (JPG 1489 KB) Fig. S1 Ternary diagrams showing stoichiometric relationships of N, P, and K in the green leaves of lucerne as a function of stand age (a), P fertilization (b) and water supply (c). Dashed lines indicate the critical ratios of N:P (14.5), N:K (2.1), and K:P (3.4) dividing the plots into 4 sections. Three of the sections show N limitation (N:P<14.5 and N:K<2.1), P limitation or P+N co-limitation (N:P>14.5 and K:P>3.4), K limitation or K+N co-limitation (N:K>2.1 and K:P<3.4), while for the central triangle section, the stoichiometric ratio cannot tell the type of nutrient limitation or whether this is non-NPK limitation (Venterink et al. 2003). 1, 2, and 3, stand age. HW, high water supply; LW, low water supply; NW, normal water supply.
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Yang, M., Lu, Y., Mu, L. et al. Leaf and Soil Phosphatases and the Correlations with Leaf P Resorption of Lucerne Under P Fertilization and Irrigation. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 23, 842–853 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-022-01087-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-022-01087-1