Seasonal variations of phytoplankton phosphorus stress in the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass

The Yellow Sea is located between the China Mainland and the Korean Peninsula, representing a typical shallow epicontinental sea. The Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass（YSCWM） is one of the most important physical features in the Yellow Sea. The characteristics of vertical profiles and seasonal variations of biogenic elements in the YSCWM may lead the variations of nutrient availability（e.g., phosphorus） and phosphorus stress of phytoplankton. In this study, the authors surveyed the seasonal variations of phytoplankton phosphorus stress with emphasis on the effect of the YSCWM during the four cruises in April and October 2006, March and August 2007. Using both bulk and single-cell alkaline phosphatase activity（APA） assays, this study evaluated phosphorus status of phytoplankton community, succession of phytoplankton community and ecophysiological responses of phytoplankton to phosphorus in the typical region of the YSCWM. With the occurrence of the YSCWM, especially the variations of concentration of dissolved inorganic phosphorus（DIP）, the results of bulk APA appeared corresponding seasonal variations. Along Transects A and B, the mean APA in August was the highest, and that in March was the lowest. According to the ELF-labeled assay＇s results, seasonal variations of the ELF-labeled percentages within dominant species indicated that diatoms were dominant in March, April and October, while dinoflagellates were dominant in August. During the four cruises, the ELF-labeled percentages of diatoms except Paralia sulcata showed that diatoms were not phosphorus deficient in April 2006 at all, but suffered from severe phosphorus stress in August 2007. In comparison, the ELF-labeled percentages of dinoflagellates were all above 50% during the four time series, which meant dinoflagellates such as Alexandrium and Scrippsiella, sustained perennial phosphorus stress.

Physiological responses of needles of Pinus massoniana elite families to phosphorus stress in acid soil

Pinus massoniana Lamb. is a major timber species widely planted in the South China, where the soil is acidic and deficient in phosphorus （P） due to fixation by aluminum and iron. Understanding the physiological responses to rhizospheric insoluble P is essential for enhancing plantation productivity. Thus, a sand culture experiment was conducted with four levels of P treatment （0, 5, 20 g insoluble P and 10 g soluble P）, and 11 P. massoniana elite families. Physiological responses were measured after two months of stress. Compared to the normal soluble P treatment, the insoluble P treatment significantly reduced the proline content and the APase activity in the needles, while it significantly increased the catalase activity by 1.3-fold and malondialdehyde content by 1.2-fold. Soluble protein content was unaffected by the treatments, but chlorophyll content was significantly lower in P-deprived treatment compared with soluble and insoluble P treatments. These physiological responses also exhibited highly significant variation among families （p 〈 0.01）. The findings suggest that increased catalase activities in the presence of insoluble P might be involved in the activation of an anti-oxidation defense mechanism that scavenges the reactive oxygen species elicited by the stress. And this response has a strong genetic control that can be exploited to identify desirable genotypes.

Differences in Phosphorus Absorption and Utilization Efficiency of Soybean in Mature Period under Phosphorus Stress

In this study, four phosphorus-inefficient soybean genotypes （1903, 1305, D17 and D18） and four phosphorus-efficient soybean genotypes （D31, D34, D37 and D38 ） were selected as experimental materials for soil culture experiment under high and low phosphorus treatments, to investigate the grain yield, phosphorus content, phosphorus uptake and the relationship between phosphorus utilization efficiency and phosphorus efficiency of soybean genotypes with different phos- phorus efficiency in mature period. According to the experimental results, under low phosphorus treatment, four phosphorus-efficient soybean genotypes exhibited significantly high phosphorus uptake in mature period, especially for D31 and D37; however, three phosphorus-efficient genotypes showed no advantages in adapta- bility of phosphorus utilization efficiency, while only I）31 exhibited high phosphorus utilization and absorption capacity. Correlation analysis and path analysis showed that phosphorus deficiency of soybean was mainly detemained by phosphorus absorption capacity, and phosphorus deficiency under （-P） treatment was sig- nificandy higher than （ ＋ P） treatment. Phosphorus uptake and phosphorus utilization efficiency posed great direct effects on phosphorus efficiency, and phosphorus uptake exhibited a greater contribution ; in addition, these two factors both posed small indirect effects. In mature period at reproductive growth stage, phosphorus absorption efficiency （phosphorus uptake） was the main variation source of phosphorus efficiency of various soybean genotypes in mature period. Therefore, strong phosphorus uptake and accumulation capacity of phosphorus-efficient soybean genotypes in mature period is an important nutrition foundation for the information of high grain yield.

Comparative growth, dry matter accumulation and photosynthetic rate of seven species of Eucalypt in response to phosphorus supply

Plantations of eucalypts as short-rotation tree crops are rapidly expanding in tropical and sub-tropical regions, including southern China, where the soils are acidic and available phosphorus （P） is limited. We investigated seedling growth, dry matter accumulation, and the dynamics of photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll content of seven Eucalyptus spe- cies/hybrids （E. dunnii, E. grandis, E. grandis x E. camaldulensis, E. urophylla x E. camaldulensis, E. urophylla x E. tereticornis, E. grandis x E. tereticornis, E. urophylla x E. grandis） in response to different levels of P supply （0, 6, 12 and 18 mg-kg-l KH2PO4）. The photosynthetic rate and the chlorophyll content significantly declined as the P supply declined in almost a linear fashion for all species as the P stress period extended. In the absence of P supply, height growth of seedlings of all species was significantly impaired, while root collar diameter growth and whole plant dry matter accumulation was not affected by the level of P supply in most of the species. Significant inter-species variations in growth, dry matter accumulation and photosynthetic rate in response to P supply were detected. Eucalyptus dunnii had the lowest growth perform- ance across all levels of P supply while E. urophylla x E. tereticornis showed superior growth performance. From a practical point of view, E. urophylla x E. tereticornis is suggested as a candidate hybrid for planting on slightly P-deficient sites in southern China while E. dunnii, being a slow-growing species, is not suitable for short-rotation plantation. On plantation sites where severe P deficiency exists, P fertilization needs to be considered to boost rapid growth of seedlings so as to meet the man- agement objectives of short-rotation plantation.

Screening and identification of soybean varieties with high phosphorus efficiency at seedling stage

In order to simplify the workload and find a reliable method for screening soybeans with different phosphorus(P)efficiencies,47 soybean varieties were screened from 90 varieties according to yield under normal phosphorus,and 10 indicators including root phenotype,phosphorus utilization efficiency at the seedling stage and yield were measured.Through single-index cluster analysis,the performance value and relative value of the abovementioned indexes under low-phosphorus conditions were analyzed,and then,the combined indexes were analyzed by principal components method.The membership function method and the cluster analysis method was used to calculate and analyze the comprehensive score value.Three indexes of root P utilization efficiency(X_(1)),relative value of root P utilization efficiency(X_(2)),and root volume(X_(3))under low P at the seedling stage were selected as the most consistent with the yield screening results under low P condition,and the mathematical model of the comprehensive score value was obtained:D=1.218X_(1)t 0.320X_(2)t 0.007X_(3)-0.664(P=0.000,R^(2)=1.000).The comprehensive score can screen and identify the P efficiency of soybeans with fewer indexes in the early growth stages,which provides a more rapid and reliable mathematical model for screening and identifying a larger number of germplasm resources for P efficiency.