The absorption and distribution of nitrogen after floret initiation in wheat

Abstract

The pattern of absorption and distribution of nitrogen after floret initiation in wheat was examined with the aid of labelled nitrogen with a view to determining the importance of sterile tillers as a source of nitrogen for the fertile parts of the plant. Tertiary tillers were found to be of no importance as direct importers of nitrogen from the growth medium; absorption by these tillers was almost entirely via the roots of the main stem and the primary tillers. In conditions of high nitrogen supply the tertiary tillers continued to receive nitrogen from the main stem and primary tillers, but the tertiary tillers of low nitrogen plants were starved of nitrogen and soon senesced.

When the sterile, tertiary tillers died there was a remobilization of most of their nitrogen, apparently to the fertile parts (main stem, primary and some secondary tillers) of the plant, but a small quantity of nitrogen was also lost to the nutrient solution. It is concluded that although sterile, tertiary tillers act as a temporary nutrient reservoir for the fertile plant parts, they are in fact of little or no value and may well be regarded as a useless vestige of perenniality in the wheat plant.