Phosphorus tolerance levels of different chickpea genotypes

Phosphorus (P) is a macronutrient required by the plants in large quantities. This study assessed P-tolerance levels of different chickpea genotypes under greenhouse conditions. Nine genotypes (‘Damla’, ‘Diyar. 95′, ‘ER. 98′, ‘ILC.482′, ‘İzmir’, ‘Çağatay’, ‘Gökçe’, ‘Gülümser’ and ‘Yaşa.05′) were screened under seven P doses (i.e., 15, 30, 45, 75, 90, 100 and 120 mg P kg(−1) soil). The P-deficiency symptoms were graded, subsequently root and shoot biomass and P accumulation were recorded after harvesting the plants 55 days after sowing. Principal component analysis (PCA) was executed to group genotypes. Genotypes and P levels significantly differed for growth and nutrient acquisition traits. The highest shoot biomass was recorded under 90, 100 and 120 mg P kg(−1) soil, while plants grown under 15 mg kg(-1)P recorded the lowest biomass. Similarly, the highest root biomass was noted for 45 and 90 mg P kg(−1) soil, while 15 and 30 mg P kg(−1) soil had the lowest root biomass. The highest root:shoot ratio (RSR) was observed for 15, 30 and 45 mg P kg(−1) soil, whereas 100 and 120 mg P kg(−1) soil recorded the lowest RSR. The ‘Gökçe’ and ‘Çağatay’ genotypes produced the highest shoot biomass, while the lowest shoot biomass production was recorded for ‘Diyar. 95′ genotype. The highest and the lowest root biomass and RSR were recorded for genotypes ‘Diyar 95′ and ‘Gökçe’, respectively. The highest P was accumulated by genotypes ‘İzmir’ and ‘ILC.482′, while ‘Diyar. 95′ accumulated the lowest amount of P. The PCA grouped genotypes in two different groups based on root biomass, shoot biomass, RSR and P accumulation. Genotype ‘İzmir’ was in the first group. Similarly, ‘Çağatay’, ‘ER 98′ and ‘ILC.482′ had similar P accumulation. Thus, the results provide valuable insights for the use of these genotypes in the future for breeding purpose.