Effect of mineral sulphur availability on nitrogen and sulphur uptake and remobilization during the vegetative growth of Brassica napus L.

Abstract

Because it has a high demand for sulphur (S), oilseed rape is particularly sensitive to S limitation. However, the physiological effects of S limitation remain unclear, especially during the rosette stage. For this reason a study was conducted to determine the effects of mineral S limitation on nitrogen (N) and S uptake and remobilization during vegetative growth of oilseed rape at both the whole-plant and leaf rank level for plants grown during 35 d with 300 μM 34SO42– (control plants; +S) or with 15 μM 34SO42– (S-limited plants; –S). The results highlight that S-limited plants showed no significant differences either in whole-plant and leaf biomas or in N uptake, when compared with control plants. However, total S and 34S (i.e. deriving from S uptake) contents were greatly reduced for the whole plant and leaf after 35 d, and a greater redistribution of endogenous S from leaves to the benefit of roots was observed. The relative expression of tonoplast and plasmalemma sulphate transporters was also strongly induced in the roots. In conclusion, although S-limited plants had 20 times less mineral S than control plants, their development remained surprisingly unchanged. During S limitation, oilseed rape is able to recycle endogenous S compounds (mostly sulphate) from leaves to roots. However, this physiological adaptation may be effective only over a short time scale (i.e. vegetative growth).

Growth and nutrient uptake of maize plants as affected by elemental sulfur and nitrogen fertilizer in sandy calcareous soil

“…Intensive cropping systems requires important amounts of N, P, K and S fertilizers and among these N fertilizer plays significant role. Sulfur is accumulated in plants in low concentrations compared to N, but is an essential element as a constituent of proteins, cysteine-containing peptides such as glutathione, or numerous secondary metabolites (Scherer et al, 2008;Abdallah et al, 2010). Nitrogen and S are both involved in protein synthesis and play an important role in the protection of plants against nutrient stress and pests and synthesis of vitamins and chlorophyll in the cell (Kacar and Katkat, 2007).…”

Composição química do solo e das folhas e eficiência do uso de nutrientes por espécies de manguezal

“…Tal como o N, também o S é fundamental para a constituição proteica (Abdallah et al, 2010). Apesar de se observar um padrão de concentração similar ao N em termos de médias, não se observa correlação positiva e significativa entre os dois elementos.…”

The effect of nitrogen and sulphur on the agronomical and water use efficiencies of canola (Brassica napusL.) grown in selected localities of the Western Cape province, South Africa

“…Canola also shows responses to sulphur (S) because the requirements are four times that of wheat or maize (Abdallah et al 2010). This higher S requirement in canola compared to cereals is ascribed to the higher protein content of these cultivars combined with the higher proportion in brassicas of cysteine and methionine, which contributes to the larger S requirements (Durrani and Khalil 1990).…”