The partitioning patterns of nutrients between pods and seeds of Zanthoxylum fruits impacted by environmental factors

The nutritive quality in plant organs is related to the different partitioning patterns of nutrient resources among the organs under various environmental conditions. This study examined the relationship between the nutritive quality of pods and seeds in Zanthoxylum and environmental factors, such as temperature and preciptation by using numerous samples collected from Southwest China to the East China of Shandong peninsula. The increasing accumulations of N, P and C in seeds implied that the nutritive quality in seeds was higher at the regions with relative higher mean annual temperature (MAT) and mean annual precipitation (MAP), while that in pods was on the contrary. By contrast, pod nutritive content was relatively high, but seed nutritive content was relatively low at the regions with relative high MAT and MAP. In addition, C:N ratio in pods was significantly and negatively correlated with MAT and MAP, while that in seed was significantly and positively correlated with MAT and MAP. The partitioning patterns of N-compounds between pods and seeds reflected different nitrogen translocations in the plant organs under various climate condition. The N:P ratios were negatively correlated with MAP, implying a higher proportional allocation of P to seeds than that of N in the areas with a relative high MAP. Therefore, the strategies to assess pod nutritional quality should be taken into account for nutritive translocation under various environmental conditions. © 2018, Science Press, Institute of Geochemistry, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.