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Nitrogen Fixation and Translocation in Sugarcane

Takuji Ohyama¹, Atsushi Momose¹, Norikuni Ohtake¹, Kuni Sueyoshi², Takashi Sato³, Yasuhiro Nakanishi⁴ & Shoichiro Akao⁵

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1. Department of Applied Agricultral Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University
2. Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University
3. Faculty of Bioresource Sciences, Akita Prefectural University
4. Miyako Subtropical Experimental Farm, Tokyo University of Agriculture
5. Faculty of Agriculture, Miyazaki University

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Document Type:

Manuscript

Date:

Received 03 October 2008 05:20 UTC; Posted 07 October 2008

Subjects:

Ecology, Earth & Environment, Plant Biology

Tags:

• nitrogen fixation
• sugarcane
• roots
• stems
• shoots
• Plants

Abstract:

World sugarcane production is increasing rapidly as a biofuel. In some areas in Brazil, sugarcane has been grown continually over very long periods without N fertiliser inputs. Therefore, the occurrence of N fixation has been suspected. However, quantitative studies seeking to identify the N₂ fixation sites in the plant and to record the translocation of fixed N around the plant have not yet established. A ¹⁵N₂ gas tracer experiment was conducted using young sugarcane plants to investigate the sites of N₂ fixation and also to explore the possibility of translocation of the fixed N among the plant’s major organs. Young sugarcane plants (Saccharum officinarum L.) about 40 cm high and some 14 days after sprouting from a stem cutting were exposed to ¹⁵N₂ labeled air in a 500 mL plastic cylinder for 7 days. Following the 7-day ¹⁵N₂ feeding, some plants were potted and grown on in normal air for a further chase period. The incorporation of ¹⁵N into the shoot, roots, and stem cutting was analysed at day-3, and day-7 of the labeling period and at day-14, and day-21 during the chase period. After 3 days of ¹⁵N₂ feeding, the % of N derived from the ¹⁵N labeled air in the shoot, roots and stem cutting were 0.027%, 2.22% and 0.271%, respectively. The roots showed the highest N fixing activity followed by the stem cutting, while the incorporation of ¹⁵N into the shoot was very low. After 21 days about a half of the N originating in the stem cutting had been transported to the shoot and the roots. However, the ¹⁵N fixed either in the roots or in the stem cutting remained in the original parts and was not appreciably transported to the shoot.

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This document is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

How to cite this document:

Ohyama, Takuji, Momose, Atsushi, Ohtake, Norikuni, Sueyoshi, Kuni, Sato, Takashi, Nakanishi, Yasuhiro, and Akao, Shoichiro. Nitrogen Fixation and Translocation in Sugarcane. Available from Nature Precedings <http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2008.2360.1> (2008)

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