ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1615405
This article is part of the Research TopicGrafting for Sustainable Crop Improvement: Physiological, Molecular, and Agronomic PerspectivesView all articles
Nutrient acquisition efficient rootstocks improve zinc nutrition of top-grafted citrus trees on calcareous soil
Provisionally accepted
Jiawei Xie1
Huaye Xiong1
Runzheng Niu2Yuheng Wang2Yuehong Wang3Mohammad Naeem Lali2,4Jingkun Zhao5*Xiaojun Shi2*
Heinz Rennenberg1,6- 1Center of Molecular Ecophysiology (CMEP), College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- 2Interdisciplinary Research Center for Agriculture Green Development in Yangtze River Basin, College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- 3Hechuan District Grain and Oil Development Guidance Station, Chongqing, China
- 4Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Faculty of Agriculture, Bamyan University, Bamyan, Afghanistan
- 5Chongqing Agro-Tech Extension Station, Chongqing, China
- 6Chair of Tree Physiology, Institute of Forest Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg Georges-Köhler-Allee 53/54, Freiburg, Germany
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Zinc deficiency is a common issue in top-grafted citrus trees. Citrus scions top-grafted on rootstocks may exhibit zinc deficiency due to reduced mineral absorption and transport. Therefore, selecting the appropriate rootstock is thought to be crucial for Zn nutrition of top-grafted citrus trees. To test this assumption, we performed top-grafting of citrus scions using Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf. and Citrus junos (Sieb.) Tanaka as rootstocks and analyzed growth, Zn nutrition, and physiological traits of the top-grafted citrus trees. The results indicated that, compared with the Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf. rootstock, the C. junos (Sieb.) Tanaka rootstock significantly increased the Zn level in new leaves, mature leaves, stems, and roots by 81.69%, 66.18%, 97.52%, and 45.94%, respectively, and positively influenced growth, photosynthetic efficiency, and foliar carbon and nitrogen metabolite concentrations in the top-grafted citrus trees. Metabolome analysis of leaves revealed that intermediates of the glyoxylate, dicarboxylate, ascorbate and aldarate metabolic pathways were responsive to different Zn levels. Thus, C. junos (Sieb.) Tanaka rootstock stimulated plant growth, boosted Zn acquisition, and enhanced the physiological performance of top-grafted citrus plants. The mechanisms by which C. junos (Sieb.) Tanaka rootstocks improve the performance of citrus plants require further research.
Keywords: Citrus, Top grafting, rootstock, zinc deficiency, photosynthetic efficiency, Carbon and nitrogen partitioning, Metabolome Composition
Received: 21 Apr 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xie, Xiong, Niu, Wang, Wang, Lali, Zhao, Shi and Rennenberg. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jingkun Zhao, Chongqing Agro-Tech Extension Station, Chongqing, China
Xiaojun Shi, Interdisciplinary Research Center for Agriculture Green Development in Yangtze River Basin, College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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