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Nutritional and root development factors affecting growth of tissue culture plantlets of loblolly pine
Author(s) -
McKeand S. E.,
Allen H. L.
Publication year - 1984
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 - 10.1111/j.1399-3054.1984.tb06367.x
Subject(s) - shoot , dry weight , nutrient , phosphorus , biology , nitrogen , loblolly pine , seedling , botany , greenhouse , horticulture , root system , agronomy , pinus <genus> , chemistry , ecology , organic chemistry
Tissue culture plantlets of loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.) were compared to seedlings to quantify growth and developmental differences. The two plant types were grown in containers in a greenhouse and sampled periodically for twenty weeks. Dry weights and nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations of the shoots and roots were determined every two weeks. During the twenty weeks in the greenhouse, seedlings grew to a greater size than the plantlets, but the relative rates of growth were approximately equal. Plantlets had significantly lower concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus per g of shoot dry weight. Seedlings were much more efficient at nutrient uptake per g of dry weight of root. Plantlets had thick, unbranched roots, which were inefficient at nitrogen and phosphorus uptake. Nutrient uptake based on an index of root surface area was equal in the plantlets and seedlings. The main differences between plantlets and seedlings apparently were related to root system morphology rather than physiological processes. The uptake of nutrients showed the greatest difference between the plant types.