Nutritional deficiency in scarlet eggplant limits its growth by modifying the absorption and use efficiency of macronutrients

Abstract

The intensity damages caused by nutritional deficiency in growing plants can vary with nutrients. The effects caused by nutrient omission in the plant nutritional efficiency in relation to the absorption and use of the missing nutrient, and the reasons why these damages reflect in other nutrients have not yet been reported in the culture of scarlet eggplant. A better understanding of the nutritional mechanisms involved may clarify why certain nutrients cause greater limitations than other during plants growth. Thus, this study was designed with the aim of evaluating the damages caused by macronutrients deficiency in the culture of scarlet eggplant in the accumulation of these nutrients, nutritional deficiency, plants growth and in visual symptoms. The experiment was carried out in a controlled environment where plants were cultivated in a hydroponic system. Treatments consisted of supplying a complete Hoagland and Arnon solution (CS), and other nutrient solutions with individual omissions of nitrogen (-N), phosphorus (-P), potassium (-K), calcium (-Ca), magnesium (-Mg) and sulphur (-S). When a nutrient deficiency arose, nutritional analyses, growth and visual symptoms were analyzed. The omissions of N, S and K in the nutrient solution resulted in lower accumulation of all macronutrients in both the above and below ground biomass. Individual omissions resulted in nutritional imbalances with reflexes in the absorption efficiencies and use of the missing nutrient, as well as of other nutrients, revealing that the metabolism involves multiple nutritional interactions. Losses of nutritional efficiencies of macronutrients caused detrimental effects on plants growth, with reduced height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, and biomass production in above ground and below ground. From the losses in production in above ground biomass, the order of macronutrients limitation was N, S, K, Ca, Mg, and P, with reductions of 99, 96, 94, 76, 51 and 46%, respectively, in comparison to plants cultivated in CS. The most limiting nutrients were N, S, and K, seen that its deficiencies affected the metabolism of all other nutrients. This study demonstrates the importance of an adequate nutritional management of N, S, and K in the cultivation of scarlet eggplant.

Pengaruh Berbagai Dosis Mikoriza terhadap Perakaran dan Produksi Tanaman Terong Ungu (Solanum melongena L.)

“…Kecukupan nutrisi akan menentukan hasil akhir dari budidaya tanaman terong. Defisiensi nutrisi pada tanaman terong berpengaruh terhadap biomassa tanaman (Teixeira et al, 2021). Penyerapan nutrisi pada tanaman dapat ditingkatkan salah satunya dengan aplikasi biofertilizer.…”

Preferential phosphatidylglycerol synthesis via phosphorus supply through rRNA degradation in the cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, under phosphate-starved conditions

“…A series of P-limitation acclimation strategies, including improvements in external phosphate (Pi) acquisition ability and internal P use efficiency (PUE), have been developed in photosynthetic organisms ( Plaxton and Tran, 2011 ; Heuer et al., 2017 ). Intriguingly, photosynthetic organisms exhibit milder symptoms in physiological processes with P-starvation (-P) compared to those with N or S-starvation, at least during the short-term stresses ( Mao et al., 2018 ; Hirai et al., 2019 ; Teixeira et al., 2021 ). Notably, in a cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp.…”

Silicon in the form of nanosilica mitigates P toxicity in scarlet eggplant

“…The States of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais stand out in its cultivation, with an average productivity of 20 and 60 t ha −1 6 . However, the increase in growth and productivity of this species can be limited by different types of stress, especially abiotic ones, such as nutritional disorders 7 . Disturbance due to excess P may occur in some regions of intensive cultivation of vegetables when high doses of P are used either in hydroponic cultivation or in greenhouses with excess P fertilization 8 .…”