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Influence of the nitrogen level on root growth and morphology of two potato varieties differing in nitrogen acquisition

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Genetic Aspects of Plant Mineral Nutrition

Part of the book series: Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences ((DPSS,volume 42))

Abstract

Two potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars (‘Astrid’ and ‘Bodenkraft’) differing in their nitrogen acquisition from the soil (Hunnius, 1981) were used in nutrient solutions to study the effect of increasing concentrations of nitrate (0.05; 0.5; 5.0mol m-3) particularly on root growth and morphology. In each variety increasing nitrogen concentrations stimulated shoot growth more than root growth. At all nitrate concentrations, the variety with higher nitrogen acquisition (‘Astrid’) had a significantly larger root system. The larger root system of ‘Astrid’ compared to ‘Bodenkraft’ was particularly evident when surface area and total length of the roots, instead of root dry weight were used as parameters. The results stress the importance of root length and surface area for nitrogen acquisition from soils.

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© 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Sattelmacher, B., Klotz, F., Marschner, H. (1990). Influence of the nitrogen level on root growth and morphology of two potato varieties differing in nitrogen acquisition. In: El Bassam, N., Dambroth, M., Loughman, B.C. (eds) Genetic Aspects of Plant Mineral Nutrition. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 42. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2053-8_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2053-8_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7421-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2053-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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