J. W. Burton

Nitrogen Transfer Between Plants: A 15N Natural Abundance Study with Crop and Weed Species

An increasing amount of evidence indicates that N can be transferred between plants. Nonetheless, a number of fundamental questions remain. A series of experiments was initiated in the field to examine N transfer between N2-fixing soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) varieties and a non-nodulating soybean, and between N2-fixing peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) or soybean and neighboring weed species. The experiments were conducted in soils with low N fertilities and used differences in N accumulation and/or 15N natural abundance to estimate N transfer. Mixtures of N2-fixing and non-nod soybean indicated that substantial inter-plant N transfer occurred. Amounts were variable, ranging from negligible levels to 48% of the N found in the non-nod at maturity. Transfer did not appear to strongly penalize the N2-fixing donor plants. But, in cases where high amounts of N were transferred, N content of donors was noticeably lowered. Differences were evident in the amount of N transferred from different N2-fixing donor genotypes. Results of experiments with N2-fixing crops and the weed species prickly sida (Sida spinosa L.) and sicklepod (Senna obtusifolia [L.] Irwin & Barneby) also indicated substantial N transfer occurred over a 60-day period, with amounts accounting for 30–80% of the N present in the weeds. Transfer of N, however, was generally very low in weed species that are known to be non-hosts for arbuscular mycorrhizae (yellow nutsedge, Cyperus esculentus L. and Palmer amaranth, Amaranthus palmeri [S.] Watson). The results are consistent with the view that N transfer occurs primarily through mycorrhizal hyphal networks, and they reveal that N transfer may be a contributing factor to weed problems in N2-fixing crops in low N fertility conditions.

Phenotypic variation for saturated fatty acid content in soybean

SummaryConcern over high saturates in human diets has prompted the development of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] lines producing oil with reduced saturated fatty acid concentration. To better understand those factors that influence phenotypic expression for palmitic and stearic acid content in soybean, thirty soybean lines random for saturated fatty acid content were grown in eight field environments contrasting for mean temperature during seed-filling. Palmitic and stearic acid content varied significantly (P<0.01) both among genotypes and across environments, while genotype x environment interactions were reflected in changes in line variance and ranking for both traits. Therefore selection of a superior genotype for saturated fatty acid composition may not correlate well from one environment to another. In general, early-maturing lines were less sensitive than later-maturing lines in their response to changes in mean daily temperature for palmitic concentration. However, factors in addition to temperature appeared to influence genotype response for stearic acid content. It appears that genetic systems conditioning palmitic and stearic acids are independent, and that separate breeding strategies need be adopted to make simultaneous improvement for these two oil traits. In summary, development of soybean lines with low or high saturated fatty acid content may be accomplished through evaluation and selection in a few environments contrasting for temperature.

Effects of defoliation on seed protein concentration in normal and high protein lines of soybean

Two high (NC106, NC111) and two normal (NC103, NC107) seed protein concentration lines, derived from two different recurrent selection populations of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) were subjected to partial defoliation at beginning seed fill (R5) under outdoor pot culture and field conditions. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that capacity to store N in vegetative organs and/or to mobilize that N to reproductive organs is associated with the high seed protein concentration trait. Symbiotic N2 fixation was the sole source of N in the pot experiment and the major source of N (met > 50% of the N requirement) in the low N soil used in the field experiment. Seed protein concentration and seed yield at maturity in both experiments and N accumulation and mobilization between R5 and maturity in the pot experiment were measured. The four genotypes did not differ significantly with respect to the amount of N accumulated before beginning seed fill (R5). Removal of up to two leaflets per trifoliolate leaf at R5 significantly decreased the seed protein concentration of NC107/111 but had no effect on this trait in NC103/106. Defoliation treatments significantly decreased seed yield, whole plant N accumulation (N2-fixation) during reproductive growth and vegetative N mobilization of all genotypes. Differences in harvest indices between the high and low protein lines accounted for approximately 35% of the differences in protein concentration. The two normal protein lines mobilized more vegetative N to the seed (average. 5.26 g plant−1) than the two high protein lines (average. 4.28 g plant−1). The two high seed protein lines (NC106, NC111) exhibited significantly different relative dependencies of reproductive N accumulation on vegetative N mobilization, 45% vs. 29%, in the control treatment. Whereas, NC103 with normal and NC106 with high seed protein concentration exhibited similar relative dependencies of reproductive N accumulation on vegetative N mobilization, (47% vs. 45%). Collectively, these results indicate that N stored in shoot organs before R5 and greater absolute and relative contribution of vegetative N mobilization to the reproductive N requirement are not responsible for the high seed protein concentration trait.

Seed Nitrogen Mobilization in Soybean: Effects of Seed Nitrogen Content and External Nitrogen Fertility

ABSTRACT Soybean breeding programs have developed genetic lines with relatively low seed protein, which could negatively impact early seedling growth in low fertility conditions commonly encountered in the field. In these experiments, seed protein mobilization and its regulation in situ in soybean lines with different seed protein levels was investigated. The results showed that rates of nitrogen (N) release from cotyledons were much lower with decreasing levels of N in seed. Patterns of proteolysis of the storage proteins glycinin and β -conglycinin and their subunits were not different, but breakdown rates were slower. Seed N release rates increased somewhat when external N was supplied to roots of the developing seedlings, suggesting the involvement of source/sink controls. The effect appeared to be down-stream from proteolysis, as rates of protein breakdown were not altered. The results indicate that low seed protein levels will lead to reduced seedling fitness in low fertility soil conditions unless fertilizer N is applied.