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AOBPreview originally published online on August 12, 2005
Annals of Botany 2005 96(5):793-797; doi:10.1093/aob/mci229
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Nitrogen Supply after Removing the Shoot Apex Increases the Nicotine Concentration and Nitrogen Content of Tobacco Plants

X. Y. XI, C. J. LI* and F. S. ZHANG

The Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition, Ministry of Agriculture, Key Laboratory of Plant–Soil Interactions, Ministry of Education, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100094, China

* For correspondence. E-mail lichj{at}cau.edu.cn

Received: 18 January 2005    Returned for revision: 9 May 2005    Accepted: 1 June 2005    Published electronically: 12 August 2005

• Background and Aims High nicotine concentrations in leaves, especially in the upper leaves, offer a serious problem for the cultivation of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Preliminary field experiments showed that rapid mineralization of soil N during late stages of growth may contribute to high nicotine concentrations in leaves.

• Methods A sand-culture experiment was carried out in the greenhouse. The N supply was controlled during the experiment, and different amounts of 15N were supplied during late stages of growth (after removal of the shoot apex), to investigate the contribution of the N taken up at this time to the N content of and nicotine concentration in tobacco plants.

• Key Results Addition of 1·6 g or 4 g 15N-labelled NH4NO3 after removing the shoot apex and flushing out the 14N did not increase leaf dry weights; however, it did result in delayed leaf senescence, more lateral bud formation, and an increase in 15N as a proportion of total N, and nicotine-15N as a proportion of total nicotine-N in each organ. The nicotine concentration, 15N and nicotine-15N abundances were increased from the bottom to the top leaves. When more 15N-labelled NH4NO3 was supplied, the nicotine concentration in leaves increased, and so did the 15N abundance in nicotine-N.

• Conclusion Enhanced N supply in the later growth stages (after removing the apex) increased N content and nicotine concentration in tobacco plants. Nicotine was synthesized de novo during the late growth stages.

Key words: Flue-cured tobacco, 15N-isotope, nitrogen, nicotine concentration, removal of the shoot apex


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