Acquisition strategies of phosphorus in Euplassa legalis (Vell.) (Proteaceae)

• Grant number: 11/17037-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2012
• End date: June 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Rafael Silva Oliveira
• Grantee: Patricia de Britto Costa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Cluster roots are considered adaptations that enhance phosphorus acquisition from soils with low P availability, both in increasing the absorptive surface and by the release of several exudates. They are well-documented in Australian and South-African Proteaceae (Lambers et al. 2010) and investigations about their frequency and function in plants from ancient and nutrient-impoverished soils from South America have not been well established. In this context, we will work with a common Proteaceae of South America, Euplassa legalis. The aims of this study are 1) to investigate the effects of variable P supply on plant growth, physiological performance, and cluster-root formation; 2) to understand the distribution of P in the various compartments of the plant; 3) to characterize the main carboxylates released by the cluster roots of this species. The research will be conducted from an experiment in pots with soil in a greenhouse with seedlings of three months from E. legalis whose seeds were collected in a resting forest in Ubatuba, SP. The plants will be watered three times a week with a nutrient solution with the following P concentrations: 0, 10, 50 and 100 mM. Measures of growth in height of leaf expansion will be taken for four-month. The maximum photosynthetic rate, total plant biomass, number of cluster roots per plant, the weight of the cluster root/total root weight, P concentration in the various compartments of the plant, and composition of the exudates will be reviewed after this period. Thus, we intend to understand the role of phosphorus in the formation of cluster roots, as well as to elucidate the mechanisms by which these roots obtain nutrients.(AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

COSTA, PATRICIA DE BRITTO; ABRAHAO, ANNA; GORNE VIANI, RICARDO AUGUSTO; SANTIN BRANCALION, PEDRO HENRIQUE; LAMBERS, HANS; HELENA FRANKAND SAWAYA, ALEXANDRA CHRISTINE; OLIVEIRA, RAFAEL S.. Cluster-root formation and carboxylate release in Euplassa cantareirae (Proteaceae) from a neotropical biodiversity hotspot. PLANT AND SOIL, v. 403, n. 1-2, p. 267-275, JUN 2016. (08/58035-6, 10/17204-0, 11/17037-9)