Jatropha curcas L. has recently attracted the attention of the international research community due to its potential as a biodiesel crop. In addition, its high resistance to drought and salinity is well known. Under arid and semiarid conditions, boron (B) concentrations in irrigation water can be higher than desired when water from industry, urban areas, or desalination is used. However, the growth and physiological responses of J. curcas plants to B excess in the irrigation water are unknown. Therefore, a greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effects of B excess in the nutrient solution (0.25, 2, 4.5, and 7 mg L–1 B, applied as H3BO3) on plant growth, mineral concentration in the different plant tissues, photosynthesis, water relations, chlorophyll fluorescence, chlorophyll concentration (as SPAD values), and composition of carbohydrates. Plant growth decreased with increasing B concentration in the nutrient solution; growth reduction was higher for roots than for leaves or stems. The B concentration increased in all plant tissues, in the following order: leaf > root > stem. These data indicate that the roots of J. curcas are more sensitive to B toxicity than the leaves and that B has restricted mobility inside these plants, accumulating mainly in the basal and middle leaves via the transpiration stream. Increasing B concentration in leaves decreased the ACO2 and the stomatal conductance, but the leaf water parameters were not affected. The data for chlorophyll concentration and chlorophyll fluorescence indicated that nonstomatal factors were involved in the ACO2 decline, whereas decreases in the parameters of PSII photochemistry due to B toxicity suggest that there was structural damage in chloroplasts. There was also a general tendency for a decrease in nonstructural carbohydrates in all plant tissues, possibly due to the decline in ACO2. With excess B, the concentrations of K and Mg increased in leaves due to a decrease in the growth, while a typical antagonistic effect between B and P was evident from the P concentration decrease in leaves. In summary, J. curcas should be considered a B‐sensitive plant, as a leaf B concentration of 1.2 mg (g dw)–1 caused a growth decline of approximately 30%.

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   |texte=   Effects of boron excess in nutrient solution on growth, mineral nutrition, and physiological parameters of Jatropha curcas seedlings
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