Sulfur limitation increases nitrate and amino acid pools in tropical forages
Fabiana Schmidt A , Fabiano D. De Bona A B and Francisco A. Monteiro A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Soil Science Department, University of São Paulo, Av. Pádua Dias 11, PO Box 9, Piracicaba, SP 13418-900, Brazil.
B National Wheat Research Center, Embrapa Trigo, Rodovia BR 285 294 km, PO Box 451, Passo Fundo, RS 99001-970, Brazil.
C Corresponding author. Email: famontei@usp.br
Crop and Pasture Science 64(1) 51-60 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP12336
Submitted: 29 September 2012 Accepted: 25 March 2013 Published: 22 April 2013
Abstract
Increasing the supply of sulfur (S) to forage plants can change their nitrogen (N) metabolism, causing changes in the N : S ratio that can potentially affect forage production and quality. The present study was focussed on revealing how supply (low, intermediate, high) of S affects amino acid composition and concentrations of total S, total N, sulfate-S, nitrate-N, and soluble protein in the leaves of tropical pasture species.
Greenhouse experiments were conducted in ground quartz (inert solid substrate) culture to examine the effect of S supply in two tropical species: Panicum maximum cv. Tanzania (Guinea grass) and Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Mineirão (stylo). Because legumes have greater S requirement than do grass species, application levels of S varied according to the species. Guinea grass was grown with 0.10, 0.55, 1.00, 1.45, and 1.90 mmol L−1 of S, and stylo with 0.10, 0.70, 1.30, 1.90 and 2.50 mmol L−1 of S. Plants of both species were harvested on two occasions.
Low S availability (0.10 mmol L−1) caused a nutritional imbalance with N in Guinea grass and stylo plants, as shown by a high N : S ratio (>60 : 1), and high concentrations of nitrate-N and free amino acids in plant tissues. Increased S supply regulated the N : S ratio at values close to 20 : 1, which provided N and S concentrations more suitable for protein synthesis and optimum forage production for both forage species. Asparagine was the predominant amino acid present in S-limited Guinea grass, whereas arginine was more abundant in S-limited stylo. This result indicates that a limitation of S increases nitrate-N and free amino acids while decreasing plant growth rates and soluble protein concentrations in these forage species.
Additional keywords: amino acid composition, N : S ratio, nitrate concentration, sulfur fertilisation, tropical forage species.
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