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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Impact of crop load on nitrogen uptake and reserve mobilisation in Vitis vinifera

Thibaut Verdenal https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6032-2966 A E , Jorge E. Spangenberg B , Vivian Zufferey A , Ágnes Dienes-Nagy A , Olivier Viret C , Cornelis van Leeuwen D and Jean-Laurent Spring A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Agroscope Institute, Avenue Rochettaz 21, 1009 Pully, Switzerland.

B Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

C Direction générale de l’agriculture, de la viticulture et des affaires vétérinaires, 1110 Morges, Switzerland.

D Ecophysiologie et Génomique Fonctionnelle de la Vigne (EGFV), Bordeaux Sciences Agro, Institut national de la recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement (INRAE), Univ. Bordeaux, Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV), 33882 Villenave d’Ornon, France.

E Corresponding author. Email: thibaut.verdenal@agroscope.admin.ch

Functional Plant Biology 47(8) 744-756 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP20010
Submitted: 9 January 2020  Accepted: 16 March 2020   Published: 12 June 2020

Journal Compilation © CSIRO 2020 Open Access CC BY

Abstract

Nitrogen deficit affects both crop production and composition, particularly in crops requiring an optimal fruit N content for aroma development. The adaptation of cultural practices to improve N use efficiency (NUE) (i.e. N uptake, assimilation and partitioning) is a priority for the sustainable production of high-quality crops. A trial was set on potted grapevines (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Chasselas) to investigate the potential of crop limitation (via bunch thinning) to control plant NUE and ultimately fruit N composition at harvest. A large crop load gradient was imposed by bunch thinning (0.5–2.5 kg m–2) and N traceability in the plant was realised with an isotope-labelling method (10 atom % 15N foliar urea). The results indicate that the mobilisation of root reserves plays a major role in the balance of fruit N content. Fertiliser N uptake and assimilation appeared to be strongly stimulated by high-yielding conditions. Fertilisation largely contributed to fulfilling the high fruit N demand while limiting the mobilisation of root reserves under high yield conditions. Plants were able to modulate root N reserve mobilisation and fertiliser N uptake in function of the crop load, thus maintaining a uniform N concentration in fruits. However, the fruit free amino N profile was modified, which potentially altered the fruit aromas. These findings highlight the great capacity of plants to adapt their N metabolism to constraints, crop thinning in this case. This confirms the possibility of monitoring NUE by adapting cultural practices.

Additional keywords: crop thinning, foliar urea, grapevine, isotope labelling, N partitioning, reserve mobilisation.


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