Inclusion of urea in the foliar 59FeEDTA-Solution stimulated leaf penetration and translocation of 59Fe within wheat plants

Official URL: http://plantnutrition.org/files/downloads/2013ipnc-b-proceedings.pdf

This study demonstrated that urea inclusion in the foliar Fe-­‐EDTA treatment solution significantly improved leaf penetration and translocation of Fe from the treated flag leaf at the reproductive growth stage (Table 1). When including urea in the treatment solution, the proportion of 59Fe found in grains increased from 8.8 to 34.6%, but this enhancing urea effect was not observed for 59Fe translocation into shoots (Table 1). This result implies that transport of leaf-­‐applied Fe into grains is, at least partly, a sink-­‐driven process because developing grains are better competitors than shoots at the reproductive growth stage (Marschner, 2012). Results clearly indicate that urea facilitated penetration of Fe into, and translocation from the treated leaf, to the other plant parts such as grains. Treatments of leaf tips with urea increased concentration of soluble amino acids in the treated part of the leaves which probably contributed to transportation of Fe in the plant. The results indicate that urea inclusion into foliar Fe treatment solutions would represent a useful agronomic practice for biofortification of cereal grains with Fe.