Role of root exudates on assimilation of phosphorus in young and old Arabidopsis thaliana plants

Abstract

The role of root exudates has long been recognized for its potential to improve nutrient use efficiency in cropping systems. However, studies addressing the variability of root exudates involved in phosphorus solubilization across plant developmental stages remain scarce. Here, we grew Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings in sterile liquid culture with a low, medium, or high concentration of phosphate and measured the composition of the root exudate at seedling, vegetative, and bolting stages. The exudates changed in response to the incremental addition of phosphorus, starting from the vegetative stage. Specific metabolites decreased in relation to phosphate concentration supplementation at specific stages of development. Some of those metabolites were tested for their phosphate solubilizing activity, and 3-hydroxypropionic acid, malic acid, and nicotinic acid were able to solubilize calcium phosphate from both solid and liquid media. In summary, our data suggest that plants can release distinct compounds to deal with phosphorus deficiency needs influenced by the phosphorus nutritional status at varying developmental stages.