Barley plants carrying the altered function Sln1d allele display modified responses to low phosphorus supply: implications for phosphorus utilisation efficiency

Abstract

The module GA-GID1-DELLA (Gibberellin-Gibberellin Receptor-DELLA proteins) provides a point for the integration of signals potentially relevant in determining nutrient utilisation and acquisition efficiencies. In this study, we explored the role of components of this module during the acclimation of barley plants (Hordeum vulgare L.) to different phosphorus (P) supplies by using two related genotypes, harbouring either the WT or the Sln1d alleles of the DELLA-coding gene Sln1. Dwarf Sln1d plants exhibited reduced shoot P utilisation efficiency (PUtE) and better performance at low levels of P supply. The superior PUtE displayed by WT plants disappeared when corrected by internal P concentration, indicating that multiple analyses are necessary to fully understand the meaning of PUtE estimates. Over a wide range of external supplies of P, Sln1d plants displayed enhanced P concentration, which was associated with low relative growth rate, high biomass partitioning to roots and high P-uptake-rate, thus suggesting that the effect of the Sln1d allele on P dynamics is not simply a consequence of slow growth habit. An enhanced P concentration was also found in a mutant with defective GAs-synthesis. Our results suggest that components of the GA-GID1-DELLAs module contribute to set the acclimation response of barley plants to low P supply through both P-dynamics dependent and P-dynamics independent mechanisms.