Effects of foliar Fe application on mineral and photosynthetic pigment composition in field grown peach leaves

• Hamdi El-Jendoubi ^[1] ; Mónica Lastra ^[1] ; Javier Abadía a ^[1] ; Anunciación Abadía ^[1]
  1. [1] Plant Stress Physiology Group, Plant Nutrition Department, Aula Dei Experimental Station, CSIC
• Localización: SEFV 2011: programa de sesiones y resúmenes de conferencias plenarias e invitadas / coord. por Vicent Arbona Mengual, Rosa María Pérez Clemente, María Fernanda López Climent, Aurelio Gómez Cadenas, 2011, ISBN 978-84-8021-805-4, pág. 35
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Iron (Fe) deficiency (Fe chlorosis) is a common disorder affecting plants in many areas of theworld, and is mainly associated with high pH, calcareous soil [1, 2]. Plant Fe deficiency haseconomical significance, because crop quality and yield can be severely compromised [2,3].Therefore, the use of expensive fertilization procedures is often required [4].The correction of iron chlorosis in crops grown on calcareous soils is an old problem with noeasy solution. Until rootstocks tolerant to Fe chlorosis and having favorable agronomicalcharacteristics become available, the prevention or correction of Fe chlorosis is of paramountimportance to fruit growers [5]. Foliar sprays can be a cheaper, environmentally friendlyalternative to soil treatments for the control of Fe chlorosis. Foliar fertilization is most effectivewhen soil nutrient availability is low, topsoil dry, and root activity is decreased during thereproductive stage [6]. The success of treatments with Fe compounds depends on their capacityto penetrate the cuticle, travel through the apoplastic free space and cross the plasmalemma ofleaf cells to reach the cytoplasm and then the chloroplast [1,7]. The scientific background forthe foliar fertilizer practices is still scarce [1].In this work we evaluate the effect of an Fe-containing formulation previously estimated to havethe best regreening effect in previous studies [8,9]. The distal half of leaves was treated with aFeSO4,7H2O solution via dipping, first at the beginning of the trial and then 4 weeks later. Then,the re-greening of treated (distal) and untreated (proximal) leaf areas was estimated with aSPAD apparatus, on a weekly basis, during 8 weeks. At the end of the experimental period,leaves were excised, and tissue Fe, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn and Cu concentrations weredetermined in Fe-treated and untreated leaf areas. Also, photosynthetic pigment compositionwas characterized in both parts of the treated leaves.