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Regulation of nitrogen partitioning in field-grown almond trees: Effects of fruit load and foliar nitrogen applications

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Abstract

Two treatments were employed to influence the amount of amino nitrogen (N) transport in phloem. In walnut trees (Juglans regia L.), developing fruit significantly reduced the efflux of foliar-applied 15N-enriched urea from treated spurs over a 33-day period in comparison with similarly-treated defruited spurs. Those data suggest that local aboveground demand for N influences vascular transport of amino N. In another experiment, a 1% urea solution was applied foliarly to 5-year old `Mission' almond trees [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D. A. Webb] to increase the concentration of amino N in the phloem. The effect of foliar N treatments on a) the transport and distribution of labelled urea N within the trees over the experimental period and b) the uptake of soil-applied labelled N were determined by replicated whole tree excavation, fractionation into various tree components and mass spectrometric analyses of the 14N/15N ratios. Concentrations and composition of amino acids in the phloem and xylem saps of control trees and trees receiving foliar-applied urea were also determined. In foliar urea-treated trees, the amino acid concentrations increased significantly in leaf and bark phloem exudate, within 24 and 96 h, respectively. Foliar-applied urea N was translocated to the roots of almond trees over the experimental period and decreased soil N uptake. The results of these experiments are consistent with the hypothesis that aboveground N demand affects the amount of amino N cycling between shoots and roots, and may be involved in the regulation of soil N uptake.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pomology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Farbod Youssefi & Patrick H. Brown

  2. Department of Pomology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Steven A. Weinbaum

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  1. Farbod Youssefi
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  2. Steven A. Weinbaum
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  3. Patrick H. Brown
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Correspondence to Steven A. Weinbaum.

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Youssefi, F., Weinbaum, S.A. & Brown, P.H. Regulation of nitrogen partitioning in field-grown almond trees: Effects of fruit load and foliar nitrogen applications. Plant and Soil 227, 273–281 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026572615441

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