Two cultivars of peanut (Arachis hypogaea) seedlings show different tolerance to calcium deficiency

ABSTRACT

The objectives were to determine whether two peanut cultivars show different tolerance to calcium (Ca) deficiency. The seedlings of cultivars LH11 and YZ9102 at first trifoliate leaf stage were transplanted in nutrient solution for 28 days with 0.01 and 2.0 mmol/L Ca treatments. Low Ca supply did not affect plant growth, root length and surface area of YZ9102, whereas decreased plant biomass, root length and surface area of LH11 seedlings that appeared necrosis in shoot tip. YZ9102 plant had higher Ca concentration and more Ca distribution to leaves than LH11. Under limited Ca condition, LH11 appeared net Ca²⁺ effluxes in the zones of 0.2 ∼ 1.5 mm from root apex, while YZ9102 roots maintained net Ca²⁺ influxes. Peanut cultivar YZ9102 seedlings had longer roots and higher capacities of Ca uptake and Ca translocation to shoots than LH11, which might be account for higher tolerance to Ca deficiency compared with LH11.

KEYWORDS:

• Peanut genotypes
• calcium deficiency
• Ca²⁺ flux
• root length

Funding

This work was supported by the grant from National Basic Research Program of China (Project No. 2013CB127402), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 31071855; 31372138) and Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Project No. 6112021).