Partition of carbon and nitrogen in coffee arabica in response to fruit load

Author(s)

Márcio Souza da Silva

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Piracicaba.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC)
• Defense date: 2019-07-22

Examining board members

Paulo Mazzafera; José Donizeti Alves; José Laercio Favarin

• Advisor: Paulo Mazzafera

Abstract

Coffee plants (Coffea arabica L.) have a biennial production pattern because of the competition between vegetative and reproductive growth occurring at the same time. The quantification of carbon and nitrogen compounds as well as the metabolic profile of these compounds were investigated in order to identify possible changes in the growth of the tissues of productive branch of the coffee tree in response to the fruit load. The effects of fruit loading were studied in four phenological stages (initial expansion, final expansion, fruit granulation and maturation), evaluating the growth of old, mature and young leaves; the section of the branches in which they are inserted, as well as the fruits. For this, manipulations in the fruit load were carried out on the whole plant cultivated in a field experiment in the region of Presidente Olegário, Minas Gerais, Brazil (18 ° 35\' 25\" S and 46° 19\' 20\'\' O; 1045 m level). The treatments consisted in reducing the loads of fruits in their initial stage of development to 0%, 30%, 60% and control maintaining 100% of the fruits in the tree. This study showed that the high fruit load mainly impairs the growth of young vegetation, but with no effect on already formed leaves and branches. It was also evidenced that the high fruit load promotes competition among the fruits affecting its size and its unit mass. This reduction of vegetative and fruit growth is mainly due to the depletion of starch in the branches that contribute strongly to the carbon supply to the sink organs. Old leaf provides sucrose to promote fruit and vegetative growth, but this carbon supply does not seem to be sufficient to maintain excess fruit growth. In this case, the starch is then consumed from the branches of these plants resulting in the increase of the sucrose content in the mature branches and leaves, which are the main responsible for allocating carbon for the growth and development of the fruits. In plants with reduced fruit load, the carbon source organs are different from plants with high fruit yield. In this case, the branch and mature leaf provide sucrose for the growth of young vegetation and fruit without apparent expense of starch accumulated in the branches. The old leaves and branches are the main immediate contributors of nitrogen, but the branches are the main source organs of this nutrient having great capacity to store nitrogen and to make it available to the plants under high yield of fruits. Thus, the nitrogen and carbon stored in the branches play a fundamental role in buffering the depletion of these nutrients caused by the excessive number of metabolic sinks. The fruits of the plants with reduced load seem to have been shaded by the abundant growth of leaves and branches of distinct form of the fruits originating from the plants with high fruit load. This shading seems to have caused a lower degree of maturation of the fruits of these plants due to the increase of phenolic compounds and reduction of pectin and anthocyanin in fruits and/or their tissues. However, this effect on fruit maturation is tenuous without altering the amount of sucrose and total soluble amino acids in the fruits and in none of the tissues that compose them. Using a metabolomic approach, it was confirmed that the organic acids were influenced by the lower degree of maturation of fruits from the plants with reduced load. This evidence also supports the idea that the higher vegetative growth of the plants with reduced load can increase the maturation time of the fruits. Analyzing the amino acid profile, it was confirmed that the old and mature leaves are the main source organs of nitrogen for the physiological sinks. The nitrogen redistribution of these leaves as asparagine, glutamine, tyrosine and phenylalanine to the drains occurred in plants with excessive fruit load. This nitrogen flow to the physiological sinks together with the protein degradation of the branches of these plants culminated with increase of phenylalanine in the grains, glutamine and aspartate in the fruits and alanine in the young leaves compared to the plants with reduced fruit load. There was stimulation of putrescine synthesis in the grains probably as a mechanism to readjust the carbon and nitrogen flux in the initially disturbed plant organism in response to the fruit load. Thus, new pre- and post-translational research needs to be developed in order to elucidate the interrelation of carbon and nitrogen metabolism to the homeostasis of its metabolites in response to fruit load. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/23613-9 - Partition of carbon and nitrogen in coffee in response to fruit load
• Grantee: Marcio Souza da Silva
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master