Regulation effects of water and nitrogen on the source-sink relationship in potato during the tuber bulking stage

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Abstract

The source-sink relationship determines crop yield, and it is largely regulated by water and nutrients in agricultural production. This has been widely investigated in cereals, but fewer studies have been conducted in root and tuber crops such as potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). The objective of this study was to investigate the source-sink relationship in potato and the regulation of water and nitrogen on the source-sink relationship during the tuber bulking stage. A pot experiment using virus-free plantlets of the Atlantic potato cultivar was conducted, using three water levels (50%, 70% and 90% of field capacity) and three nitrogen levels (0, 0.2, 0.4 g N·kg-1 soil). The results showed that, under all water and nitrogen levels, plant source capacity were small at the end of the experiment, since photosynthetic activity in leaves were low and non-structural reserves in underground stems were completely remobilized. While at this time, there were very big differences in maximum and minimum tuber number and tuber weight, indicating that the sink tuber still had a large potential capacity to take in assimilates. These results suggest that the source-supplied assimilates were not sufficient enough to meet the demands of sink growth. Thus, we concluded that, unlike cereals, potato yield is more likely to be source-limited than sink-limited during the tuber bulking stage. Water and nitrogen are two key factors in potato production management. Our results showed that water level, nitrogen level and the interaction between water and nitrogen influence potato yield mainly through affecting source capacity via the net photosynthetic rate, total leaf area and leaf life span. Well-watered, sufficient nitrogen and well-watered combined with sufficient nitrogen increased yield mainly by enhancing the source capacity. Therefore, this suggests that increasing source capacity is more crucial to improve potato yield.

Figures

  • Table 1. Water and nitrogen levels in different treatments.
  • Fig 1. Changes in soil water content during the experiment. Data are presented as the mean ± SE (n 27).
  • Fig 2. Tuber yield of potato at different DAT under different treatments.DAT represents days after transplanting into soil. All data are presented as the mean ± SE (n = 8).
  • Table 2. ANOVA results for comparison of tuber yield and other relevant parameters at different DAT. DAT represents days after transplanting into soil.
  • Table 3. Pearson correlation coefficients among tuber yield and some relevant parameters during the tuber bulking stage.
  • Fig 3. Net photosynthetic rate at different DAT under different treatments.DAT represents days after transplanting into soil. All data are presented as the mean ± SE (n = 5).
  • Fig 4. Total leaf area at different DAT under different treatments.DAT represents days after transplanting into soil. All data are presented as the mean ± SE (n = 8).
  • Fig 5. Aboveground biomass (leaves + aboveground stems) accumulated at different DAT under different treatments. DAT represents days after transplanting into soil. All data are presented as the mean ± SE (n = 5).

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APA

Li, W., Xiong, B., Wang, S., Deng, X., Yin, L., & Li, H. (2016). Regulation effects of water and nitrogen on the source-sink relationship in potato during the tuber bulking stage. PLoS ONE, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0146877

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