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- Title
Is white clover able to switch to atmospheric sulphur sources when sulphate availability decreases?
- Authors
Varin, Sébastien; Lemauviel-Lavenant, Servane; Cliquet, Jean-Bernard
- Abstract
Sulphur (S) is one of the very few nutrients that plants can absorb either through roots as sulphate or via leaves in a gas form such as SO2 or H2S. This study was realized in a non-S-enriched atmosphere and its purpose was to test whether clover plants can increase their ability to use atmospheric S when sulphate availability decreases. A novel methodology measuring the dilution of 34S provided from a nutrient solution by atmospheric 32S was developed to measure S acquisition by Trifolium repens L. Clones of white clover were grown for 140 d in a hydroponic system with three levels of sulphate concentrations. S concentration in plants decreased with S deficiency and plant age. In the experimental conditions used here, S derived from atmospheric deposition (Sdad) constituted from 36% to 100% of the total S. The allocation of S coming from atmospheric and pedospheric sources depends on organs and compounds. Nodules appeared as major sinks for sulphate. A greater proportion of atmospheric S was observed in buffer-soluble proteins than in the insoluble S fraction. Decreasing the S concentration in the nutrient solution resulted in an increase in the Sdad:leaf area ratio and in an increase in the leaf:stolon and root:shoot mass ratios, suggesting that a plasticity in the partitioning of resources to organs may allow a higher gain of S by both roots and leaves. This study shows that clover can increase its ability to use atmospheric S even at low concentration when pedospheric S availability decreases.
- Subjects
ATMOSPHERIC sulfur compounds; SULFATES; PLANT nutrients; SULFUR content of plants; PLANT roots; PLANT shoots
- Publication
Journal of Experimental Botany, 2013, Vol 64, Issue 8, p2511
- ISSN
0022-0957
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/jxb/ert109