Large variation of maize lines in acclimation to low phosphate availability and the synergistic coupling to nitrogen.

Two maize lines from the heterotic dent pool performed poorly under low phosphate and showed N deficiency, linked to a lack of a robust root phosphate starvation response.

• Why it matters: Low P soils constrain growth, and N uptake must be coordinated with P status; the genetic basis of this coupling is unclear.
• What they did: Diverse maize genotypes were grown under two P levels, and internal P, performance, root transcriptional PSR, N acquisition, and inositol pyrophosphates were compared across lines.
• The result: Only the poorly performing dent lines lacked a robust root PSR, while PP-InsPs were similarly diminished in contrasting lines under P deficiency, implying shoot-root communication and post-transcriptional N–P interactions.

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