Atmospheric nitrogen dioxide at ambient levels stimulates growth and development of horticultural plants

Studies have demonstrated that ambient levels of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) can cause Nicotiana plumbaginifolia to double its biomass as well as its cell contents. This paper examined the influence of NO2 on lettuce, sunflower, cucumber, and pumpkin plants. Plants were grown in environments supplemented with stable isotope-labelled NO2 for approximately 6 weeks and irrigated with nitrates. Measured growth parameters included leaf number, internode number, stem length, number of flower buds, and root length. Results of the study demonstrated that the addition of NO2 doubled the aboveground and belowground biomass of sunflowers, while only the aboveground biomass of pumpkin, cucumbers, and lettuces was doubled. Levels of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) were also doubled in the lettuce samples. A mass spectrometry analysis showed that only a small percentage of total plant N was derived from NO2. It was concluded that exogenous NO2 additions function as a signal rather than as a significant nutrient source in horticultural plants. 22 refs., 2 tabs., 1 fig