Summary
In order to explore interrelations between S nutrition, soluble sugars, leaf area, nodulation and N2 fixation, greenhouse experiments were done with several levels of S added to perlite-sand cultures or to a moderately S-deficient soil. Sulfur had indirect effects on nodulation and N2 fixation, possibly by improving sugars supply and N metabolism.
In perlite-sand culture, leaf area increased with concentrations of supplied S up to 50 and 200 μM for symbiotic and N-treated plants respectively, then decreased at higher concentrations. Plant yield and total sugars content (mg per plant) for the N-treated plants behaved similar to leaf area in response to added S but in the symbiotic plants maximum values were obtained at 100 μM S. In soil, Mo had no effect on growth but interacted significantly with S in affecting total sugars content. High levels of S depressed sugars content at low Mo but raised it at high Mo.
Sulfur increased the N content of soil-grown plants. It increased the N content of plants grown in perlite-sand culture except at very high levels of S. There was little effect on concentration of N in the shoots. Nitrogen content correlated significantly with leaf area and sugar content, and highly significantly with S concentration in the shoots.
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Zaroug, M.G., Munns, D.N. Nodulation, nitrogen fixation, leaf area, and sugars content inLablab purpureus as affected by sulfur nutrition. Plant Soil 53, 319–328 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02277866
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02277866