ABSTRACT
Phosphorus (P) is a finite, non-renewable, and natural resource and a vital major nutrient for plant metabolic and developmental processes. However, adverse soil biogeochemical characteristics of alkaline-calcareous soils (especially Aridisols) and highly weathered acid soils (i.e., Ultisols and Oxisols) render orthophosphate (Pi) as the least available major nutrient due to P complexation, sorption, and/or fixation. In such soil environments, plant bioavailable P is only a small fraction of total soil P, seriously limiting crop growth and production. Different plant species, and even cultivars of the same species, may display a suite of growth responses that enable them to solubilize and scavenge soil P either by enhancing external Pi acquisition or reprioritizing internal Pi use under P-stress soil environments. This paper reports relative growth responses, P acquisition and P-use efficiency characteristics by 14 cultivars of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in solution culture with high/low P supply induced by applying soluble NH4H2PO4, sparingly soluble rock phosphate, and Ca3(PO4)2. The wheat cultivars exhibited considerable genetic diversity in biomass accumulation, P concentrations, P contents, factor (PSF) and P efficiency characteristics [i.e., P utilization efficiency (PUE), P efficiency (PE), and PE ratio (PER)]. Plant growth and PE parameters were significantly correlated, while P uptake was linearly related with biomass increase and solution pH decrease. The wheat cultivars with high PUE, PER and P uptake, and low PSF, and plant P concentration were more efficient in utilizing P and, hence, more tolerant under P-stress environment. Biomass and P contents of “P efficient/low-P tolerant” wheat cultivars were superior to “P inefficient/low-P sensitive” cultivars at all P-stress levels. Hence, “P efficient/low-P tolerant” cultivars are the most desirable wheat genotypes for P-stress environments because they are able to scavenge more P from sparingly soluble P sources or soil-bound P forms.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Pakistan, for provision of wheat germplasm.
Funding
This investigation was financially supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (Grant in aid for JSPS fellows, No. 26·03908).