Transport of nitrogen assimilation in xylem vessels of green tea plants fed with NH4-N and NO3-N

An experiment was carried out to study the transport process of nitrogen (N) assimilation from tea roots by monitoring the dynamic composition of N compounds in xylem sap after N-15-NO3 and N-15-NH4 were fed to the root of tea plants (Camellia sinensis L.). Results showed that the main amino acids were glutamine, theanine, arginine, asparic acid and glutamic acid, which accounted for 49%, 17%, 8%, 7%, and 4%, respectively, of the total amino acids in the xylem sap. After the tea plants were fed with N-15-NO3 and N-15-NH4 for 48 h, the amount of total amino acids in xylem sap significantly increased and those fed with N-15-NH4 had higher increment than those with N-15-NO3. Two hours after (NNO3)-N-15 and N-15-NH4 were fed, N-15 abundance in glutamine, asparagine, glutamic acid, alanine, and arginine were detected and increased quickly over time. This indicated that it took less than 2 h for NO3-N and NH4-N to be absorbed by tea roots, incorporated into the above amino acids and transported to the xylem sap. Rapid increase in N-15-NO3 in the xylem sap of tea plants fed with N-15-NO3 indicated that nitrate could be directly transported to the xylem sap. Glutamine, theanine, and alanine were the main amino acids transported in xylem sap of tea plants fed with both N-15-NO3 and N-15-NH4.