The influence of phosphorus nutrition on the physiological response of moth bean genotypes to drought

Abstract

SummaryFour genotypes of moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia Jacq. Marechal), including two early (RMO-257 and CZM-18) and two late flowering types (CAZRI moth-1 and Jawala) were grown at two levels of phosphorus (0 and 40 kg ha ±1 ) and subjected to drought by withholding of water until wilting at the pre-flowering stage in a pot trial. Drought significantly decreased plant water potential, relative water content, rate of net photosynthesis, contents of chlorophyll, starch, soluble protein, and nitrate reductase activity in all genotypes. The adverse effects of drought were less pronounced in early than in late flowering genotypes. Phosphorus application significantly ameliorated the negative effects of drought on above parameters, particularly in the late genotypes. We conclude that P addition to moth bean may be justified even in low-rainfall years because of its ability to improve yield under water-limited conditions.

Effects of phosphorus application on photosynthetic carbon and nitrogen metabolism, water use efficiency and growth of dwarf bamboo ( Fargesia rufa ) subjected to water deficit

“…In addition, similar results have been also observed in Fargesia denudata Yi (Liu et al, 2014). Some studies have indicated that P application adaptively regulates the level of N metabolism by changing its correlative enzymes activities under water stress (Burman et al, , 2009Garg et al, 2004). Our studies found that P application exhibited minimal effects on NO À 3 reduction and NH þ 4 assimilation in well-watered dwarf bamboo (Table 4, Fig.…”

“…However, P application had minimal effect on LRWC of dwarf bamboo, regardless of water availability (Table 2), as also shown in previous studies of other crop species Singh et al, 2006b;Burman et al, 2009). Moreover, the LRWC of dwarf bamboo was influenced by water-P interaction (Table 6), which is due to interactive effects on leaf area Garg et al, 2004).…”

“…Statistics as in 2.72 ± 0.08 b 2.63 ± 0.06 b 3.00 ± 0.10 a 2.70 ± 0.04 a* Proline (mg g À1 DW) 0.41 ± 0.13 b 0.40 ± 0.10 b 1.88 ± 0.17 a 1.28 ± 0.10 a* confirmed in several plants (dos Santos et al, 2004;Garg et al, 2004;Burman et al, 2009;Sato et al, 2010). Meanwhile, some other reasons may have contributed to the improvement of P n after P application, including increased ATP and NADPH productions, activated enzyme activities in Calvin cycle, enhanced regeneration of sugar phosphate, higher output rate of photosynthates and cell proliferation (Rao and Terry, 1995).…”

“…In addition, P fertilization can accelerate nitrate (NO À 3 ) reduction and ammonium (NH þ 4 ) assimilation and produce more nitrogenous compounds in water-stressed plants by promoting NO À 3 absorption and activation of enzymes (e.g. nitrate reductase, NR; glutamine synthetase, GS and glutamate synthase, GOGAT) Garg et al, 2004). Finally, the adaptive changes of C and N metabolism induced by P fertilization are beneficial for plant survival and growth in drought-prone environments .…”

Interactive Effects of N-, P- and K-Nutrition and Drought Stress on the Development of Maize Seedlings

“…Thus, nutrient supply strongly affects crop productivity under drought conditions, but this is also very complex [8][9][10]. The positive effects of N and P on plant growth under drought conditions are attributed to an increase in water-use efficiency, stomatal conductance [11][12][13][14], photosynthesis and ATPase activity [5,15], as well as higher cell membrane stability and improved osmotic adjustment [16,17]. However, K increases a plant s drought tolerance through its functions in…”