Nutrient transportation and aging process of ramets in Aster pekinensis populations on Songnen grassland, China

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2023.0147

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Aging is an important process in the life cycle of plants, and the capacity of different organs to store nutrients and their activities in plants are important in judging individual aging. To date, the changes in these aspects during the aging process of different age-class ramets in clonal plants remain unclear.

Methods Aster pekinensis is a typical clonal plant with a root sucker. On the grassland of Northeast China, its ramets are mainly composed of three age classes (1a, 2a and 3a). In this study, the differences in water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) contents among storage organs (stem base, root collar, and taproot) or among age classes, and the seasonal variation of rhythm in the three ramets of Aster pekinensispopulations were analyzed quantitatively.

Important findings At the yellow-leaf stage, the WSC content of the taproot was higher than that of the root collar. The WSC content of root collars and taproots in 1a and 2a ramets was significantly higher than that in 3a ramets. The WSC content of stem bases was significantly lower in 1a ramets than in 2a and 3a ramets. Throughout the entire growth season, the root collars of 1a ramets always received priority allocation of nutrients, and their WSC content continued to accumulate in an exponential form. The nutrient contents in the root collars of the 2a and 3a ramets, as well as the taproots of the three age-class ramets, were all consumed first and then accumulated, and the WSC content changed in the form of a quadratic curve. The capacity of the taproot to store nutrients was generally greater than that of the root collar, whereas the activity of the root collar was greater than that of the taproot across the three age-class ramets in Aster pekinensispopulations. The nutrient storage capacity and activity of young ramets were strongest. There were no signs of aging in adolescent ramets. The old ramets were dramatically aged, and their nutrient storage capacity and activity reduced significantly. This study provides a new approach that combines qualitative and quantitative analyses to understand the relationship between the spatiotemporal changes in WSC content and the aging process of individuals in plant populations.

Key words: activity rhythmic, clonal plant, nutrient consumption, nutrient accumulation, organ aging, ramet age, watersoluble carbohydrate, population ecology

HAN Da-Yong, LI Hai-Yan, ZHANG Wei, YANG Yun-Fei. Nutrient transportation and aging process of ramets in Aster pekinensis populations on Songnen grassland, China[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2024, 48(2): 192-200.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2023.0147

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2024/V48/I2/192

Figures/Tables 4

Fig. 1 Comparisons on the water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) contents among three age classes in the storage organs of ramets in Aster pekinensis populations at different growth stages (mean ± SE). A, Stem bases. B, Root collars. C, Taproots. D, Average of three storage organs of each age class ramet. EF, early flowering stage; ER, early resprouting stage; MR, milk ripening stage; RS, ripening stage; RV, rapid vegetative growth stage; YL, yellow leaves stage. Different lowercase letters indicate a significant difference among different age classes at the same growth stage (p < 0.05); ns, p > 0.05.

Fig. 2 Comparisons of the water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) contents among storage organs with different age classes in Aster pekinensis populations at different growth stages (mean ± SE). A, 1a age class. B, 2a age class. C, 3a age class. D, Average of three age class ramets. Different lowercase letters indicate a significant difference among different organs at the same growth stage (p < 0.05); ns, p > 0.05. EF, early flowering stage; ER, early resprouting stage; MR, milk ripening stage; RS, ripening stage; RV, rapid vegetative growth stage; YL, yellow leaves stage.

Table 1 Parameters of regression equations and their significance tests of the water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) contents (y, %) in Aster pekinensis storage organs of three age classes ramets with the growth times (x, d)

贮藏器官 Storage organ	龄级 Age class	n	方程 Equation	参数 Parameter			R²	p
贮藏器官 Storage organ	龄级 Age class	n	方程 Equation	a	b/b₁	b₂	R²	p
茎基部 Stem base	1a	24	E	1.054 3	0.010 1	-	0.417 5	<0.01
	2a	24	E	0.679 9	0.017 0	-	0.779 1	<0.01
	3a	24	E	1.071 2	0.013 3	-	0.659 9	<0.01
	平均 Mean	24	E	0.911 0	0.013 8	-	0.703 0	<0.01
根颈 Root collar	1a	24	E	3.146 1	0.005 4	-	0.430 3	<0.01
	2a	24	Q	5.915 1	-0.084 4	0.000 6	0.618 5	<0.01
	3a	24	Q	3.560 9	-0.018 6	0.000 2	0.269 5	<0.01
	平均 Mean	24	Q	4.437 9	-0.032 6	0.000 3	0.533 0	<0.01
主根 Taproot	1a	24	Q	12.597 0	-0.121 9	0.000 7	0.450 0	<0.01
	2a	24	Q	11.237 0	-0.127 4	0.000 8	0.638 3	<0.01
	3a	24	Q	7.805 1	-0.071 6	0.000 5	0.361 9	<0.01
	平均 Mean	24	Q	10.744 0	-0.102 2	0.000 6	0.593 2	<0.01

Fig. 3 Observed values and the fitting curves of seasonal changes in the water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) contents in the stem base, the root collar and the taproot of different age classes ramets in Aster pekinensis populations.

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