We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Why do plants blush when they are hungry?
- Authors
Jezek, Mareike; Allan, Andrew C.; Jones, Jeffrey J.; Geilfus, Christoph‐Martin
- Abstract
Summary: Foliar anthocyanins, as well as other secondary metabolites, accumulate transiently under nutritional stress. A misconception that only nitrogen or phosphorus deficiency induces leaf purpling/reddening has led to overuse of fertilizers that burden the environment. Here, we emphasize that several other nutritional imbalances induce anthocyanin accumulation, and nutrient‐specific differences in this response have been reported for some deficiencies. A range of ecophysiological functions have been attributed to anthocyanins. We discuss the proposed functions and signalling pathways that elicit anthocyanin synthesis in nutrient‐stressed leaves. Knowledge from the fields of genetics, molecular biology, ecophysiology and plant nutrition is combined to deduce how and why anthocyanins accumulate under nutritional stress. Future research to fully understand the mechanisms and nuances of foliar anthocyanin accumulation in nutrient‐stressed crops could be utilized to allow these leaf pigments to act as bioindicators for demand‐oriented application of fertilizers. This would benefit the environment, being timely due to the increasing impact of the climate crisis on crop performance.
- Subjects
MOLECULAR biology; CLIMATE change; METABOLITES; PLANT ecophysiology; NITROGEN deficiency; FOLIAR feeding; HUNGER; GREENHOUSES
- Publication
New Phytologist, 2023, Vol 239, Issue 2, p494
- ISSN
0028-646X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/nph.18833