Ammonium-Nitrate Ratio and Soil Moisture Jointly Regulate Early-Spring Nitrogen Acquisition Through Root Architectural Plasticity in Apple

Clicks: 22
ID: 326560
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #263 of 653 articles by views in Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 653 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Early-spring nitrogen (N) acquisition in perennial fruit trees represents a critical physiological bottleneck determining vegetative-reproductive balance, as remobilized woody-tissue N supports initial growth but excessive depletion compromises reproductive performance. The interactive effects of N form (NH4+ or NO3-) and soil moisture on root morphological plasticity and whole-plant N allocation during this period remain poorly characterized. We subjected two-year-old apple trees to five NH4+/NO3- ratios under contrasting soil moisture regimes spanning budbreak to shoot elongation. Combined NH4+/NO3- supply, particularly at 25:75, optimized root architecture by maintaining high absorptive-to-structural root length ratios at moderate total root length, enhancing whole-plant total N accumulation by 59% and 21% over sole nitrate and ammonium, respectively, under moderate drought (50% FC). Balanced N supply decoupled carbon (C) and N partitioning, achieving the highest C-N allocation deviation index (0.68), facilitating preferential N enrichment in shoots while minimizing root C investment. Leaf nitrate reductase activity under drought reached maximum values under balanced supply despite reduced substrate availability, indicating that whole-plant photosynthetic status rather than substrate concentration determined assimilation capacity under water limitation. Partial least squares path modeling revealed soil moisture functions as a mechanistic switch determining N acquisition pathways: under drought, N accumulation was driven predominantly by root morphological quality (absorptive root proportion and specific root length; β=0.76), whereas under adequate moisture, absorptive root length became the primary driver (β=0.80). These findings demonstrate that coordinating NH4+/NO3- ratio with soil water availability provides a mechanistic basis for climate-adapted fertigation strategies supporting early-season N acquisition under intensifying spring drought.
Reference Key
openalex_W7204521077 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors ZengYuan Li, Jiahuan Liu, Yu Song, Jianhao Sun, Qing Tian, Shengfei Cao, Weifeng Zhang, Zhiping Duan
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/plphys/kiag634
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiag634
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.