Premium
Influence of soil fertilization, plant spacing, and cokppicing on growth, stomatal conductance, abscisic acid, and camptothecin levels in Camptotheca acuminata seedlings
Author(s) -
Liu Zhijun,
Adams John C.,
Viator H. P.,
Constantin Roysell J.,
Carpenter Stanley B.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-3054.1999.105303.x
Subject(s) - abscisic acid , camptothecin , human fertilization , shoot , stomatal conductance , biology , botany , plant growth , horticulture , agronomy , photosynthesis , biochemistry , gene
Changes in amount of the plant alkaloid, camptothecin (CPT), were investigated in field‐grown Camptotheca acuminata seedlings in response to fertilization, variation in plant density, and cokppicing. The relationship between CPT and growth, and abscisic acid (ABA) levels were also examined. Fertilization caused positive responses in growth of both the slow‐ and the fast‐growing C. acuminata plants. It lowered stomatal conductance ( g ), reduced leaf CPT level in slow‐growing but not fast‐growing seedlings in mid‐summer (July), and increased leaf ABA level in dense plantings in early fall (September). Shoots induced to develop as a result of cokppicing were significantly higher in leaf CPT level than the original non‐cokppiced shoots. These results suggest that in the C. acuminata plantation management, cokppicing should be employed to produce high concentrations of CPT, but that soil fertilization should be used cautiously so that greater growth is not achieved at the cost of lower CPT biosynthesis.