Estimating nitrogen uptake of individual roots in container- and field-grown plants using a 15N-depletion approach
Astrid Volder A B H , Laurel J. Anderson A C G , David R. Smart D , Arnold J. Bloom E , Alan N. Lakso F and David M. Eissenstat AA Department of Horticulture, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
B Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A & M University, TAMU 2133, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
C Department of Botany/Microbiology, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH 43015, USA.
D Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
E Department of Plant Science, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
F Department of Horticultural Sciences, Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, NY 14456, USA.
G Present address: Department of Botany/Microbiology, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH 43015, USA.
H Corresponding author. Email: a-volder@tamu.edu
Functional Plant Biology 36(7) 621-628 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP08330
Submitted: 31 December 2008 Accepted: 6 May 2009 Published: 2 July 2009
Abstract
We only have a limited understanding of the nutrient uptake physiology of individual roots as they age. Despite this shortcoming, the importance of nutrient uptake processes to our understanding of plant nutrition and nutrient cycling cannot be underestimated. In this study, we used a 15N depletion method that allowed for the measurement of nitrate-N uptake rates on intact, individual, fine roots of known age. We expected that N uptake would decline rapidly as fine roots aged, regardless of the environmental conditions and species used. We compared age dependent uptake patterns of young grape cuttings with those of mature vines and with those of tomato. Although patterns of declining uptake with increasing root age were similar for all species and conditions tested, large differences in maximum N uptake rates existed between young cuttings and mature vines, and between woody and herbaceous species. Maximum rates were 10-fold higher for tomato and 3-fold higher for the grape cuttings, when compared with uptake rates of fine roots of mature vines. Coefficients of variation ranged from 43 to 122% within root age groups. The large variability in physiological characteristics of fine roots of the same age, diameter and order suggests that there is a functional diversity within fine roots that is still poorly understood.
Additional keywords: fine roots, nitrate uptake, nutrient uptake, root age, root diameter, root function.
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to David Harris (Stable Isotope Research facility for Environmental Research (SIRFER) at UC Davis) for performing the isotope analyses. This work was supported by USDA grant NRI 97–35107–4359 to DME, USDA/CSREES Special Research Grants Program 99–34360–7374 to DME and DRS and NSF IOS-08–18435 and USDA-NRI 2008–01029 to AJB.
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