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- Title
Acclimation of Leaf Nitrogen to Vertical Light Gradient at Anthesis in Wheat Is a Whole-Plant Process That Scales with the Size of the Canopy.
- Authors
Moreau, Delphine; Allard, Vincent; Gaju, Oorbessy; Le Gouis, Jacques; Foulkes, M. John; Martre, Pierre
- Abstract
Vertical leaf nitrogen (N) gradient within a canopy is classically considered as a key adaptation to the local light environment that would tend to maximize canopy photosynthesis. We studied the vertical leaf N gradient with respect to the light gradient for wheat (Triticum aestivum) canopies with the aims of quantifying its modulation by crop N status and genetic variability and analyzing its ecophysiological determinants. The vertical distribution of leaf N and light was analyzed at anthesis for 16 cultivars grown in the field in two consecutive seasons under two levels of N. The N extinction coefficient with respect to light (b) varied with N supply and cultivar. Interestingly, a scaling relationship was observed between b and the size of the canopy for all the cultivars in the different environmental conditions. The scaling coefficient of the b-green area index relationship differed among cultivars, suggesting that cultivars could be more or less adapted to low-productivity environments. We conclude that the acclimation of the leaf N gradient to the light gradient is a whole-plant process that depends on canopy size. This study demonstrates that modeling leaf N distribution and canopy expansion based on the assumption that leaf N distribution parallels that of the light is inappropriate. We provide a robust relationship accounting for vertical leaf N gradient with respect to vertical light gradient as a function of canopy size.
- Subjects
PHOTOSYNTHESIS; LEAF diseases &; pests; PLANT canopies; CULTIVARS; NITROGEN
- Publication
Plant Physiology, 2012, Vol 160, Issue 3, p1479
- ISSN
0032-0889
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1104/pp.112.199935