Yoko Oki

Mobilization and acquisition of sparingly soluble P-Sources by Brassica cultivars under P-starved environment II. Rhizospheric pH changes, redesigned root architecture and pi-uptake kinetics.

Non-mycorrhizal Brassica does not produce specialized root structures such as cluster or dauciform roots but is an effective user of P compared with other crops. In addition to P-uptake, utilization and remobilization activity, acquisition of orthophosphate (Pi) from extracellular sparingly P-sources or unavailable bound P-forms can be enhanced by biochemical rescue mechanisms such copious H(+)-efflux and/or carboxylates exudation into rhizosphere by roots via plasmalemma H(+) ATPase and anion channels triggered by P-starvation. To visualize the dissolution of sparingly soluble Ca-phosphate (Ca-P), newly formed Ca-P was suspended in agar containing other essential nutrients. With NH(4)(+) applied as the N source, the precipitate dissolved in the root vicinity can be ascribed to rhizosphere acidification, whereas no dissolution occurred with nitrate nutrition. To observe in situ rhizospheric pH changes, images were recorded after embedding the roots in agar containing bromocresol purple as a pH indicator. P-tolerant cultivar showed a greater decrease in pH than the sensitive cultivar in the culture media (the appearance of typical patterns of various colors of pH indicator in the root vicinity), and at stress P-level this acidification was more prominent. In experiment 2, low P-tolerant class-I cultivars (Oscar and Con-II) showed a greater decrease in solution media pH than low P-sensitive class-II (Gold Rush and RL-18) cultivars, and P-contents of the cultivars was inversely related to decrease in culture media pH. To elucidate P-stress-induced remodeling and redesigning in a root architectural system, cultivars were grown in rhizoboxes in experiment 3. The elongation rates of primary roots increased as P-supply increased, but the elongation rates of the branched zones of primary roots decreased. The length of the lateral roots and topological index values increased when cultivars were exposed to a P-stress environment. To elucidate Pi-uptake kinetics, parameters related to P influx: maximal transport rate (V(max)), the Michaelis-Menten constant (K(m)), and the external concentration when net uptake is zero (C(min)) were tested in experiment 4. Lower K(m) and C(min) values were better indicative of the P-uptake ability of the class-I cultivars, evidencing their adaptability to P-starved environmental cues. In experiment 5, class-I cultivars exuded two- to threefold more carboxylates than class-II cultivars under the P-stress environment. The amount and types of carboxylates exuded from the roots of P-starved plants differed from those of plants grown under P-sufficient conditions. Nevertheless, the exudation rate of both class-I and class-II cultivars decreased with time, and the highest exudation rate was found after the first 4 h of carboxylates collection. Higher P uptake by class-I cultivars was significantly related to the drop in root medium pH, which can be ascribed to H(+)-efflux from the roots supplied with sparingly soluble rock-P and Ca(3)(PO(4))(2). These classical rescue strategies provided the basis of P-solubilization and acquisition from sparingly soluble P-sources by Brassica cultivars to thrive in a typically stressful environment.

Mobilization and acquisition of sparingly soluble P-sources by Brassica cultivars under P-starved environment I. Differential growth response, P-efficiency characteristics and P-remobilization.

Phosphorus (P) starvation is highly notorious for limiting plant growth around the globe. To combat P-starvation, plants constantly sense the changes in their environment, and elicit an elegant myriad of plastic responses and rescue strategies to enhance P-solublization and acquisition from bound soil P-forms. Relative growth responses, P-solublization and P-acquisition ability of 14 diverse Brassica cultivars grown with sparingly soluble P-sources (Rock-P (RP) and Ca(3)(PO(4))(2) (TCP)) were evaluated in a solution culture experiment. Cultivars showed considerable genetic diversity in terms of biomass accumulation, concentration and contents of P and Ca in shoots and roots, P-stress factor (PSF) and P use efficiency. Cultivars showed variable P-stress tolerance, and cultivars depicting low PSF and high P-efficiency values were better adaptable to P-starvation. In experiment 2, after initial feeding on optimum nutrition for 12 d after transplanting (DAT), class-I (low P-tolerant (Oscar and Con-II)) and class-II (low P-sensitive (Gold Rush and RL-18)) cultivars were exposed to P-free environment for 25 d. All of the cultivars remobilized P from above ground parts to their roots during growth in P-free environment, the magnitude of which was variable in tested cultivars. P-concentrations ([P]s) at 37 DAT were higher in developing compared with developed leaves. Translocation of absorbed P from metabolically inactive to active sites in P-stressed plants may have helped class-I cultivars to establish a better rooting system, which provided a basis for enhanced P-utilization efficiency (PUE) and tolerance against P-stress. By supplying TCP and RP spatially separated from other nutrients in split root study, class-I cultivars were still able to mobilize RP and TCP more efficiently compared with class-II cultivars. To compare the growth behavior under P-stress, cultivars were grown in pots for 41 d after sowing, using a soil low in P (NaHCO(3)-extractable P = 3.97 mg/kg, Mehlich-III-extractable P = 6.13 mg/kg) with (+P = 60 mg P/kg soil) or without P addition (0P) in study 4. Tested cultivars showed genetic diversity in PUE, P-efficiency (PE), P-efficiency ratio (PER) and PSF. P-stress markedly reduced biomass and plant P contents. Cultivars that produced higher root biomass accumulated higher total P-contents (r= 0.98**), which in turn was related negatively to PSF (r=-0.95**) and positively to shoot and total biomass. PER and PE showed significant correlations with shoot P-contents and biomass. Cultivars depicting high PUE and PE, and low PSF values showed better growth behavior under low soil P-environment. Systematic analysis and deployment of the plant rescue traits underlying the nutrient acquisition, assimilation, utilization and remobilization under P-starvation will bring more sparingly soluble P into cropping systems and will help to scavenge more P from plant unavailable bound P reserves.