ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1673572
Integrated morphological and physiological plasticity of root for improved seedling growth in Cunninghamia lanceolata and Schima superba under nitrogen deficiency and different NH4+-N to NO3 --N ratio
Provisionally accepted
Yan-Ru Wang1Xiao-Qiang Quan1Xiao-Yu Li1Cong Cheng1Jia-Xiang Yu1Xing-Hao Tang2
Pengfei Wu1
Xiang-Qing Ma1
Xiaoli Yan1*- 1Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China
- 2Fujian Academy of Forestry Sciences, Fuzhou, China
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Context: Root plasticity is an important physiological mechanism for trees to adapt to nitrogen (N) deficiency and the unequal distribution of ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3 --N) for promoting growth. However, the response of root plasticity in Cunninghamia lanceolata and Schima superba remains unclear. Methods: A pot experiment with C. lanceolata and S. superba compared N deficiency (0.5 mmol L⁻¹) and normal N (2.0 mmol L⁻¹) under five NH₄⁺-N to NO₃⁻-N ratios (10:0, 8:2, 5:5, 2:8, 0:10). Root morphological and physiological traits and seedling growth were investigated. Results: Under N deficiency, C. lanceolata showed significantly higher total root surface (TRS) and total root volume (TRV) at higher NO3 --N concentrations, although the roots were shorter and thicker than normal N. It also showed an increased root tissue density (RTD) while specific root length (SRL) and specific root surface area (SRS) decreased. In contrast, roots of S. superba elongated at higher NH4+-N concentrations, with an increase in TRS, TRV, SRL, and SRS, while RTD decreased. Different N supply treatments significantly affected N-metabolism enzyme activities in the roots of both species. The root biomass of C. lanceolata and S. superba increased compared with normal N supply level, and the relatively high NH4+-N concentrations favored aboveground growth in both species. Principal component and correlation analysis revealed that there were differences in the response of C. lanceolata and S. superba to different N supply treatments. Conclusion: Appropriately increasing the application of NH4+-N under N-deficient conditions promotes the growth of C. lanceolata and S. superba.
Keywords: nitrogen deficiency, NH4+-N to NO3--N ratio, root plasticity, Cunninghamialanceolata, Schima superba
Received: 26 Jul 2025; Accepted: 07 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Quan, Li, Cheng, Yu, Tang, Wu, Ma and Yan. 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: Xiaoli Yan, ccyanxiaoli@163.com
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