Root Plasticity Not Evident in N-Enriched Soil Volumes for Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Varieties

Sheikh M.F. Rabbi*, Chris Guppy, Richard Flavel, Matthew Tighe, Iain Young

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Root plasticity is a unique characteristic of root systems that may enhance the nutrient foraging capacity of plants. Here we investigated the effect of localized high nitrogen (N) concentration on plasticity of wheat and barley roots in soil. We conducted a series of experiments to maintain localized high concentration of N in soil and to evaluate any root morphological variation in the enriched N zone. Wheat and barley seedlings were grown in N responsive Red Ferrosol with an enriched subsurface N band for 12 days. Wheat and barley roots did not proliferate in N-enriched soil volumes. Rather, higher root length density (~1.6 times) was observed in low N surface soil. Shoot dry matter and shoot N uptake of banded N treatment was statistically similar between uniform and low N treatments. Results indicated the absence of plastic root response of the wheat and barley seedlings in subsurface N band.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2002-2012
Number of pages11
JournalCommunications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis
Volume48
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 25 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Australia. This work was done under the project UNE00020 funded by Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Australia. The authors would like to thank Jane Carruthers, Fanny Tisseau Des Escotais, Naomi McPhee and Priyakant Sinha, from the University of New England, Australia, for assistance. This work was supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Australia.

Funding Information:
This work was done under the project UNE00020 funded by Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Australia. The authors would like to thank Jane Carruthers, Fanny Tisseau Des Escotais, Naomi McPhee and Priyakant Sinha, from the University of New England, Australia, for assistance.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Taylor & Francis.

Keywords

  • Di-ammonium phosphate
  • nitrogen uptake
  • root length density
  • root plasticity
  • urea

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Soil Science

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