Nutrient partitioning and seedling development in the genus Leucaena

Slow establishment of the genus Leucaena from seed has been attributed to law seedling vigor and late nodulation. Observation of early seedling growth indicated that partitioning of a large proportion of resources to the root of young Leucaena seedlings could account, in part, for the slow initial shoot growth observed in this genus. Therefore, a series of experiments were conducted to examine the partitioning of stored seed reserves, photosynthate, and nitrogen in developing Leucaena seedlings. The effects of nodulation and nitrogen fertilization on partitioning of nutrients in the seedling were also examined. Seed reserves were initially used for radicle growth in dark grown seedlings; however, partitioning soon shifted to the hypocotyl. By four days after imbibition, hypocotyl weight exceeded radicle weight in both species tested (L. leucocephala and L. retusa), at all temperatures above 200C. Two experiments were conducted examining the carbon partitioning of L. leucocephala cultivar K-8 using 14CO2 pulse labeling techniques