Zinc portioning and allocation patterns among various tissues confers variations in Zn use efficiency and bioavailability in lentil genotypes

Naser Rasheed; Muhammad Aamer Maqsood; Tariq Aziz; Muhammad Imran Ashraf; Ifra Saleem; Shabana Ehsan; Allah Nawaz; Hafiz Muhammad Bilal; Minggang Xu

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1325370

Zinc portioning and allocation patterns among various tissues confers variations in Zn use efficiency and bioavailability in lentil genotypes

Front Plant Sci. 2024 Jan 29:14:1325370. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1325370. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Soil Science, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-Sub Campus Depalpur, Okara, Pakistan.
² Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
³ Soil Chemistry Section, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁴ Soil Bacteriology Section, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁵ Water Management Research Farm (WMRF), Renala Khurd, Agriculture Department, On Farm Water Management, Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
⁶ Shanxi Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Nutrient Resources, Shanxi Institute of Ecological and Environmental Technology, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Zinc (Zn) is essential for plants and animals as it plays significant roles in several physiological and biological processes. Its deficiency in soil results in low Zn content food and is one of the major reasons for Zn malnutrition in humans. Biofortification of crops with zinc (Zn) is a viable approach to combat malnutrition, especially in developing countries. A hydroponic study was executed to study response and Zn partitioning in various lentil genotypes. Eight preselected lentil genotypes (Line-11504, Mansehra-89, Masoor-2006, Masoor-85, Line-10502, Markaz-09, Masoor-2004, and Shiraz-96) were grown in solution culture with two Zn levels (control and adequate Zn). Plants were sown in polythene lined iron trays with a two inch layer of prewashed riverbed sand. After 10 days of germination, seedlings were transplanted to a 25L capacity container with nutrient solution for 15 days, and afterward, these plants were divided into two groups, receiving either 2.0 mM Zn or no Zn levels. Three plants of each genotype were harvested at the vegetative growth stage (60 DAT) and the remaining three at physiological maturity (117 DAT). Plants were partitioned into roots, shoots, and grains at harvest. Significant variations in root and shoot dry matter production, grain output, partitioning of Zn in plant parts (root, shoot, and grain), grain phytate reduction, and Zn bioavailability were observed among genotypes. Lentil root accumulated more Zn (54 mg kg-1) with respect to shoot Zn (51 mg kg-1) under Zn supply. The Zn efficient genotypes (Line-11504 and Mansehra-89) produced more root and shoot dry weights at both harvests. There was a positive correlation between the relative growth rate of root and grain phytate concentration (r = 0.55) and [phytate]:[Zn] ratio (r = 0.67). Zn-efficient genotype Mansehra-89 had a maximum root shoot ratio (0.57) and higher grain Zn (60 mg kg-1) with a respectively reduced grain phytate (17 µg g-1) and thus, had more Zn bioavailability (3.01 mg d-1). The genotypic ability for Zn uptake and accumulation within different plant tissues may be incorporated into future crop breeding to improve the nutrition of undernourished consumers.

Keywords: Zn accumulation; bioavailability; cultivars; lentil; malnutrition; partitioning.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by a grant (Grant No. 3387 NRPU) from the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan.