NH 4 fertilization increases susceptibility of sweet basil ( Ocimum basilicum L.) to grey mould ( Botrytis cinerea) due
- PDF / 780,154 Bytes
- 13 Pages / 547.087 x 737.008 pts Page_size
- 94 Downloads / 172 Views
NH4 fertilization increases susceptibility of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) to grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) due to decrease in Ca uptake U. Yermiyahu & M. Halpern
&
D. Shtienberg
Received: 7 June 2020 / Accepted: 3 July 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is an economically important herbaceous annual plant of the Labiaceae family. One of the main pathogens of sweet basil is grey mould (Botrytis cinerea). Previous work showed that susceptibility to grey mould increased with increasing N availability. The purpose of this work is to determine the role N form and Ca in this phenomenon. First, data from previous experiments were reexamined in order to determine whether there was a correlation between shoot Ca and basil plant susceptibility to B. cinerea. Then, basil plants were grown in a complete randomized design with 12 treatments and 5 repetitions in which N concentration, N type, and Ca concentration were varied. Plants were harvested 7 times, and shoot Ca and N were measured. Cuttings and full plants were inoculated with B. cinerea in order to determine their susceptibility to grey mould. We found that increases in N availability only increased the susceptibility of the basil plants to grey mould when the N was provided as a mix of NO3 and NH4, whereas in treatments where N was provided solely as NO3, N availability had no effect on plant susceptibility. Furthermore, we found that NH4 inhibited Ca accumulation, and shoot Ca concentration was negatively correlated to plant susceptibility. Taken U. Yermiyahu (*) : M. Halpern Gilat Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Rishon LeZion, Israel e-mail: [email protected] D. Shtienberg Department of Plant Pathology and Weed Research, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, PO Box 6, 50250 Bet Dagan, Israel
together, this shows that N availability per se did not increase basil susceptibility to B. cinerea, rather it was the increase in NH4 fertilization which caused a reduction in shoot Ca which in turn was responsible for this effect. Keywords Sweet basil . Ocimum basilicum L. . Grey Mould . Botrytis cinerea . NO3:NH4 ratio . Calcium Abbreviations EC Electrical conductivity
Introduction Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is an economically important herbaceous annual plant of the Labiaceae family. It can be used fresh, or dried and processed for flavoring and fragrances and in traditional medicine (Putievsky and Galambosi 1999; Kiferle et al. 2013). Sweet basil is grown in Israel year-round in heated and non-heated greenhouses and in walk-in tunnels (Dudai et al. 2002; Elad et al. 2017). Seedlings are usually planted in October in growing media or directly in the soil. When plants are 40 to 60 cm in height (usually within 1 to 2 months after planting), the upper part of the canopy is harvested manually using sharp knives. Harvesting breaks the apical dominance and lateral buds start to grow and develop offshoots that will be harvested subsequently. A crop is harvested every 3 to 5 week
Data Loading...
