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Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2011

Patterns of Plant Biomass Partitioning Depend on Nitrogen Source

Aguetoni Cambui, Camila; Svennerstam, Henrik; Gruffman, Linda; Nordin, Annika; Ganeteg, Ulrika; Näsholm, Torgny

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) availability is a strong determinant of plant biomass partitioning, but the role of different N sources in this process is unknown. Plants inhabiting low productivity ecosystems typically partition a large share of total biomass to belowground structures. In these systems, organic N may often dominate plant available N. With increasing productivity, plant biomass partitioning shifts to aboveground structures, along with a shift in available N to inorganic forms of N. We tested the hypothesis that the form of N taken up by plants is an important determinant of plant biomass partitioning by cultivating Arabidopsis thaliana on different N source mixtures. Plants grown on different N mixtures were similar in size, but those supplied with organic N displayed a significantly greater root fraction. (15)N labelling suggested that, in this case, a larger share of absorbed organic N was retained in roots and split-root experiments suggested this may depend on a direct incorporation of absorbed amino acid N into roots. These results suggest the form of N acquired affects plant biomass partitioning and adds new information on the interaction between N and biomass partitioning in plants.

Published in

PLoS ONE
2011, Volume: 6, number: 4, article number: e19211
Publisher: PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE