Authors
Xiaolong Feng, Peta L Clode, Shuyan Li, Shu Tong Liu, Jiayin Pang, Gaétan Glauser, Kadambot H M Siddique, Hans Lambers
Published in
Plant, cell & environment. Jun 28, 2026. Epub Jun 28, 2026.
Abstract
Plants strategically allocate phosphorus (P) among leaf tissues to support physiological functions. However, there is limited understanding of contrasting leaf cellular P-allocation patterns and their physiological consequences. We quantified leaf P fractions, photosynthetic P-use efficiency (PPUE), and P-remobilisation efficiency (PRE) in five chickpea accessions exhibiting contrasting cellular P-allocation patterns. Leaf lifespan and concentrations of key phytohormones were also measured, including abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonates. Cellular P-allocation patterns were more strongly associated with leaf lifespan than with PPUE or PRE. Accessions allocating a greater proportion of P to the mesophyll exhibited longer leaf lifespan, which was associated with lower jasmonate concentrations, rather than ABA. Surprisingly, greater P allocation to the epidermis was driven by a higher proportion of metabolite P. At the cellular level, we primarily observed a significant negative correlation between P and calcium concentrations in mesophyll cells, but not in the epidermis. Our findings provide the first evidence that leaf tissue-specific P-allocation patterns vary among chickpea accessions. Preferential allocation of P to photosynthetically active cells was associated with longer leaf lifespan. Differences in jasmonate concentrations accompanied these patterns. Collectively, these findings highlight new opportunities to enhance P-use efficiency in crop breeding programs.
PMID:
42366481
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 29 Jun 2026.
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