TY - JOUR

T1 - Plants can access limited amounts of nitrogen- and sulphur-containing amino acids in soil owing to rapid microbial decomposition

AU - Ma, Qingxu

AU - Pan, Wankun

AU - Tang, Sheng

AU - Chadwick, David R.

AU - Wu, Lianghuan

AU - Jones, Davey L.

PY - 2022/11

Y1 - 2022/11

N2 - PurposeNitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) are essential for plant growth and development. Cysteine (Cys) and methionine (Met) are N- and S-containing amino acids in soils. However, it is unclear whether plants possess a strong ability to utilise N- and S-containing amino acids from the plant physiology perspective, and whether they can access amino acids when facing rapid microbial decomposition in the soil.MethodsWheat and oilseed rape were cultivated using a sterilised hydroponic solution in the laboratory and field conditions with 13C-, 14C-, 15N-, and 35S-labelled Cys and Met.ResultsWith sterilised hydroponic cultivation, wheat and oilseed rape possessed a greater ability for Cys and Met uptake than for SO42− uptake, but these compounds did not support plant growth at high concentrations. The uptake rate of Cys and Met in oilseed rape was almost 20-fold higher than that in wheat, while the transportation ratio was even higher, indicating that oilseed rape not only possesses a great ability for S-containing amino acid uptake but also metabolises and transports them to the shoot quickly. A short-term labelling uptake test (6 h) in the field showed that 0.6–2.2% of total added Cys and Met were utilised by wheat and oilseed rape in the intact form owing to fierce competition from soil microorganisms.ConclusionsWheat and oilseed rape possess a great ability for Cys and Met uptake but can access limited amounts owing to rapid microbial decomposition in soil.

AB - PurposeNitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) are essential for plant growth and development. Cysteine (Cys) and methionine (Met) are N- and S-containing amino acids in soils. However, it is unclear whether plants possess a strong ability to utilise N- and S-containing amino acids from the plant physiology perspective, and whether they can access amino acids when facing rapid microbial decomposition in the soil.MethodsWheat and oilseed rape were cultivated using a sterilised hydroponic solution in the laboratory and field conditions with 13C-, 14C-, 15N-, and 35S-labelled Cys and Met.ResultsWith sterilised hydroponic cultivation, wheat and oilseed rape possessed a greater ability for Cys and Met uptake than for SO42− uptake, but these compounds did not support plant growth at high concentrations. The uptake rate of Cys and Met in oilseed rape was almost 20-fold higher than that in wheat, while the transportation ratio was even higher, indicating that oilseed rape not only possesses a great ability for S-containing amino acid uptake but also metabolises and transports them to the shoot quickly. A short-term labelling uptake test (6 h) in the field showed that 0.6–2.2% of total added Cys and Met were utilised by wheat and oilseed rape in the intact form owing to fierce competition from soil microorganisms.ConclusionsWheat and oilseed rape possess a great ability for Cys and Met uptake but can access limited amounts owing to rapid microbial decomposition in soil.

KW - Cysteine

KW - Methionine

KW - Organic S

KW - Plant S nutrition

KW - Soil S cycling

U2 - 10.1007/s11104-022-05557-4

DO - 10.1007/s11104-022-05557-4

M3 - Article

VL - 480

SP - 57

EP - 70

JO - Plant and Soil

JF - Plant and Soil

SN - 0032-079X

IS - 1-2

ER -