Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Phosphorus acquisition characteristics of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) under P deficient conditions

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A rhizobox experiment was conducted to examine the P acquisition characteristics of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) under P-deficient conditions. We aimed to identify whether cotton is physiologically efficient at acquiring P through release of protons, phosphatases or carboxylates. Plants were pre-grown in the upper compartment of rhizoboxes filled with a sand and soil mixture to create a dense root mat against a 53 μm polyester mesh. For each species, two P treatments (0 and 20 mg P kg−1) were applied to the upper compartment in order to create P-deficient and P-sufficient plants. At harvest, the upper compartment with intact plants was used for collection of root exudates while the lower soil compartment was sliced into thin layers (1 mm) parallel to the rhizoplane. Noticeable carboxylates release was only detected for white lupin. All P-deficient plants showed a capacity to acidify their rhizosphere soil to a distance of 3 mm. The activity of acid phosphatase was significantly enhanced in the soil-root interfaces of P-stressed cotton and wheat. Under P-deficient conditions, the P depletion zone of cotton from the lower soil compartment was narrowest (<2 mm) among the species. Phosphorus fractionation of the rhizosphere soil showed that P utilized by cotton mainly come from NaHCO3–Pi and NaOH–Po pools while wheat and white lupin markedly depleted NaHCO3–Pi and HCl–P pools, and the depletion zone extended to 3 mm. Wheat also depleted NaOH–Po to a significant level irrespective of P supply. The study suggests that acquisition of soil P is enhanced through P mobilization by root exudates for white lupin, and possibly proton release and extensive roots for wheat under P deficiency. In contrast, the P acquisition of cotton was associated with increased activity of phosphatases in rhizosphere soil.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bertrand I, Hinsinger P, Jaillard B, Arvieu JC (1999) Dynamics of phosphorus in the rhizosphere of maize and rape grown on synthetic, phosphated calcite and goethite. Plant Soil 211:111–119

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bhadoria PBS, Singh S, Claassen N (2001) Phosphorous efficiency of wheat, maize and groundnut grown in low phosphorous-supplying soil. In: Horst WJ et al (ed) Plant nutrition: food security and sustainability of agro-ecosystem through basic and applied research. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 530–531

    Google Scholar 

  • Braum SM, Helmke PA (1995) White lupin utilizes soil phosphorus that is unavailable to soybean. Plant Soil 176:95–100

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bronson KF, Onken AB, Booker JD, Lascano RJ, Provin TL, Torbert HA (2001) Irrigated cotton yields as affected by phosphorus fertilizer and landscape position. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 32:1959–1967

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cakmak I, Marschner H (1990) Decrease in nitrate uptake and increase in proton release in zinc deficient cotton, sunflower and buckwheat plants. Plant Soil 129:261–268

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen CR, Condron LM, Davis MR, Sherlock RR (2002) Phosphorus dynamics in the rhizosphere of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don). Soil Biol Biochem 34:487–499

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen ZL, Jin XY, Wang QP, Lin YM, Gan L, Tang CX (2007) Confirmation and determination of carboxylic acids in root exudates using LC–ESI–MS. J Sep Sci 30:2440–2446

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Curtin D, Wen G (2004) Plant cation-anion balance as affected by the ionic composition of the growing medium. Plant Soil 267:109–115

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dorahy CG, Rochester IJ, Blair GJ (2004) Response of field-grown cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) to phosphorus fertilisation on alkaline soils in eastern Australia. Aust J Soil Res 42:913–920

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Funderburg E, Kovar J, Smith C, Elston R (1996) A comparison of three soil test P extractants on an alkaline Lousiana soil. In Proceedings of the 1996 Beltwide Cotton Conference, pp 1428–1429

  • Gahoonia TS, Nielsen NE (1998) Direct evidence on participation of root hairs in phosphorus (32P) uptake from soil. Plant Soil 198:147–152

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • George TS, Gregory PJ, Robinson JS, Buresh RJ (2002a) Changes in phosphorus concentrations and pH in the rhizosphere of some agroforestry and crop species. Plant Soil 246:65–73

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • George TS, Gregory PJ, Wood M (2002b) Phosphatase activity and organic acids in the rhizosphere of potential agroforestry species and maize. Soil Biol Biochem 34:1487–1494

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • George TS, Turner BL, Gregory PJ, Cade-Menun BJ, Richardson AE (2006) Depletion of organic phosphorus from oxisols in relation to phosphatase activities in the rhizosphere. Eur J Soil Sci 57:47–57

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert GA, Knight JD, Vance CP, Allan DL (1999) Acid phosphatase activity in phosphorus-deficient white lupine roots. Plant Cell Environ 22:801–810

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guppy CN, Menzies NW, Moody PW, Compton BL, Blamey FPC (2000) A simplified sequential phosphorus fractionation method. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 31:1981–1991

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hedley MJ, Nye PH, White RE (1982) Plant-induced changes in the rhizosphere of rape (Brassica napus var. Emerald) seedlings. II. Origin of the pH change. New Phytol 91:31–44

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hinsinger P, Plassard C, Tang CX, Jaillard B (2003) Origin of root-mediated pH changes in the rhizosphere and their responses to environmental constraints-a review. Plant Soil 248:43–59

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffland E (1992) Quantitative evaluation of the role of organic acid exudation in the mobilisation of rock phosphate by rape. Plant Soil 140:279–289

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffland E, Findenegg GR, Nelemans JA (1989) Solubilization of rock phosphate by rape. II. Local root exudation of organic acids as a response to P-starvation. Plant Soil 113:161–165

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hylander LD, Ae N, Hatta T, Sugiyama M (1999) Exploitation of K near roots of cotton, maize, upland rice, and soybean grown in an ultisol. Plant Soil 208:33–41

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Isbell RF (2002) The Australian soil classification (revised edition). CSIRO, Collingwood, Victoria

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones DL, Darrah PR (1994) Amino-acid influx at the soil-root interface of Zea mays L. and its implications in the rhizosphere. Plant Soil 163:1–12

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kirk GJD, Van Du L (1997) Changes in rice root architecture, porosity, and oxygen and proton release under phosphorus deficiency. New Phytol 135:191–200

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lambers H, Shane MW, Cramer MD, Pearse SJ, Veneklaas EJ (2006) Root structure and functioning for efficient acquisition of phosphorus: matching morphological and physiological traits. Ann Bot 98:693–713

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lamont BB, Brown G, Mitchell DT (1984) Structure, environmental effects on their formation, and function of proteoid roots in Leucadendron Laureolum (Proteaceae). New Phytol 97:381–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li M, Shinano T, Tadano T (1997) Distribution of exudates of lupin roots in the rhizosphere under phosphorous deficient conditions. Soil Sci Plant Nutri 43:237–245

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch JP, Brown KM (2001) Topsoil foraging-an architectural adaptation of plants to low phosphorus availability. Plant Soil 237:225–237

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maqsood AG, Sabir M, Ashraf S, Rahmaullah, Aziz T (2005) Effect of P-stress on growth, phosphorus uptake and utilization efficiency of different cotton cultivars. Pakistan J Agric Sci 42:42–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcuswyner L, Rains DW (1982) Nutritional disorder of cotton plants. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 13:685–736

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moorby H, Nye PH, White RE (1985) The influence of nitrate nutrition on H+ efflux by young rape plants. Plant Soil 84:403–413

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moorby H, White RE, Nye PH (1988) The influence of phosphate nutrition on H+ efflux from the roots of young rape plants. Plant Soil 105:247–256

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Motomizu S, Wakimoto T, Toei K (1980) Spectrophotometric determination of phosphate in river waters with molybdate and malachite green. Analyst 108:361–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumann G, Römheld V (1999) Root excretion of carboxylic acids and protons in phosphorus-deficient plants. Plant Soil 211:121–130

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nuruzzaman M, Lambers H, Bolland MDA, Veneklaas EJ (2006) Distribution of carboxylates and acid phosphatase and depletion of different phosphorus fractions in the rhizosphere of a cereal and three grain legumes. Plant Soil 281:109–120

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pessarakli M (1999) Handbook of plant and crop stress. Marcel Dekker, New York, p 1276

    Google Scholar 

  • Reuter DJ, Robinson JB (1997) Plant analysis: an interpretation manual. CSIRO, Collingwood, Victoria, p 572

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowland AP, Haygarth PM (1997) Determination of total dissolved phosphorus in soil solution. J Environ Qual 26:410–415

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sas L, Rengel Z, Tang C (2001) Excess cation uptake, and extrusion of protons and organic acid anions by Lupinus albus under phosphorus deficiency. Plant Sci 160:1191–1198

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shen J, Rengel Z, Tang C, Zhang F (2003) Role of phosphorus nutrition in development of cluster roots and release of carboxylates in soil-grown Lupinus albus. Plant Soil 248:199–206

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tabatabai MA, Bremner JM (1969) Use of p-nitrophenyl phosphate for assay of soil phophatase activity. Soil Biol Biochem 1:301–307

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tang C, Unkovich MJ, Bowden JW (1999) Factors affecting soil acidification under legumes Ш. Effects of nitrate supply. New Phytol 143:513–521

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tang C, Qiao YF, Han XZ, Zheng SJ (2007) Genotypic variation in phosphorus utilization of soybean [Glycine max (L) Murr.] grown in various sparingly soluble P sources. Aust J Agric Res 58:443–451

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson BD, Bell RW, Bolland MDA (1992) Low seed phosphorus concentration depresses early growth and nodulation of narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius cv. Gungurru). J Plant Nutrition 15:1193–1214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veneklaas EJ, Stevens J, Cawthray GR, Turner S, Grigg AM, Lambers H (2003) Chickpea and white lupin rhizosphere carboxylates vary with soil properties and enhance phosphorus uptake. Plant Soil 248:187–197

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vu DT, Tang C, Armstrong RD (2008) Changes and availability of P fractions following 65 years of P application in a calcareous soil in a Mediterranean region. Plant Soil 304:21–33

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watt M, Evans JR (2003) Phosphorus acquisition from soil by white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.), species with contrasting root development. Plant Soil 248:271–283

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from La Trobe University and Cotton Research and Development Corporation. We thank Dr ZL Chen at the University of South Australia for analyzing root exudates.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, 3086, Australia

    X. Wang, C. Tang & P. W. G. Sale

  2. School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, 2351, Australia

    C. N. Guppy

  3. Cotton Catchment Communities CRC, Locked Bag 1001, Narrabri, New South Wales, 2390, Australia

    X. Wang & C. N. Guppy

Authors
  1. X. Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. Tang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C. N. Guppy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. P. W. G. Sale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. Tang.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Tim Simon George.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wang, X., Tang, C., Guppy, C.N. et al. Phosphorus acquisition characteristics of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) under P deficient conditions. Plant Soil 312, 117–128 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9589-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9589-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation