Investigating the effects of six types of nitrogen fertilizers on growth, and the content of chlorophyll , protein, phosphorus, and potassium in Euphorbia tirucalli L. under pot culture conditions

Subject Areas : Genetic

Athare Zabihi ¹ , Aryan Sateei ^{2 *} , Mazeyar Ahmadi golsefidi ³ , Mehdi Ebadi ⁴

1 - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Islamic Azad University, Branch Gorgan.
2 - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Islamic Azad University, Branch Gorgan.
3 - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Islamic Azad University, Branch Gorgan.
4 - Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Islamic Azad University, Branch Gorgan.

Received: 2021-08-12 Accepted : 2022-01-09 Published : 2024-09-24

Keywords: Protein, nitrogen, growth, Chlorophyll, Urea, Fertilizer, phosphorus, Azotobacter, Potassium,

Abstract :

The present study investigates the effect of nitrogen fertilizers on growth indices, chlorophyll content, protein of the aerial parts, and the amount of potassium and phosphorus in the roots and aerial parts of Euphorbia tirucali. Plants obtained from seven-month cuttings, spent a period of four months in soil without fertilizer (control) or in twelve treatments including biofertilizer containing Azotobacter crococum, urea fertilizer and four common types of NPK fertilizer in two concentrations of 2 and 4 g / l in complete randomized blocks in the greenhouse of the Islamic Azad University of Gorgan from the beginning of March 2019.The growth indices including the dry and fresh weight of the plant, roots and shoots as well as the ratio of fresh and dry weight of the root to the plant have been studied.The results of the present study showed that, contrary to expectations, chemical fertilizers, especially urea, mostly reduced the growth indices and especially the growth of the root system. Biofertilizer also did not improve growth indices compared to the control. Also, the use of these fertilizers did not increase the protein content of the aerial parts. Despite the increase in root potassium in some treatments or the increase in phosphorus transfer from root to shoot in most treatments, the correlation study showed that changes in root potassium or shoot phosphorus content were not correlated with growth changes. However, increase in shoot phosphorus showed a significant positive or negative correlation with shoot chlorophyll a and b content, respectively. Changes in chlorophyll content also had a negative correlation with root system development. The need to reconsider the cost of nitrogen fertilizer for this plant is a practical result of the present work.