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Physiological response of onion (Allium cepa L.) seedlings to shungite application under two soil water regimes

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Abstract

The application of carbon-rich substrates to agricultural soils is discussed as a strategy to improve soil properties and fertility, which can affect plant physiological traits and enhance agricultural crop yield. The aim of this study was to evaluate if shungite, carbon-rich sedimentary-volcanic rock, may improve plant ecophysiological traits under sufficient water supply as well as soil water deficit. A pot culture experiment was conducted with onion (Allium cepa L.) seedlings, using four shungite concentrations (0, 5, 10 and 20 g kg−1) in an Umbric Podzols and two water regimes: well-watered and drying-wetting cycles. Soil water deficit decreased root nutrient content, depressed seedlings growth, net CO2 assimilation rate (An), stomatal conductance (gs) and the respiration rates in both darkness (Rd) and the light (Rl), but increased water use efficiency (WUE) at leaf level. Shungite application decreased the leaf necrosis under both water regimes and increased total leaf length of DW seedlings. Compared with the well-watered conditions, under drying-wetting cycle shungite stimulated the increase of the An rate and WUE at low measurement temperature. No significant effect of shungite was found for Rd, Rl, Rl/Rd, Rd/Ag (Ag = An + Rl) and Rl/Ag regardless soil water regimes. Shungite application was not so successful to eliminate the negative effects of soil water deficit on growth and physiological processes of A. cepa. The observed positive effects of shungite on the physiological traits of onion seedlings were more likely associated with the increase in the content of nutrients than with the improvement in soil water properties.

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Acknowledgements

Experimental facilities for this study were offered by the Core Facility of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The study was supported by the projects of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation no. 0218-2019-0074 and 0218-2019-0079, and partly supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research no. 19-29-05174.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biology, Karelian Research Center RAS, Puskinskaja, 11, Petrozavodsk, 185610, Russia

    Elena Ikkonen & Valeria Sidorova

  2. Institute of Geology, Karelian Research Center RAS, Puskinskaja, 11, Petrozavodsk, 185610, Russia

    Svetlana Chazhengina

  3. Faculty of Soil Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russia

    Marina Butilkina

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  1. Elena Ikkonen
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  2. Svetlana Chazhengina
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  4. Valeria Sidorova
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Correspondence to Elena Ikkonen.

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Communicated by F. Araniti.

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Ikkonen, E., Chazhengina, S., Butilkina, M. et al. Physiological response of onion (Allium cepa L.) seedlings to shungite application under two soil water regimes. Acta Physiol Plant 43, 76 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-021-03239-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-021-03239-9

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