Interplay between sulfur nutrition and water stress tolerance in pea : a focus on seed development and composition

International audience; Water stress and sulfur-deficiency are two constraints increasingly faced by crops due to climate change and low-input practices. To investigate their interplay in the grain legume pea (Pisum sativum L.), sulfate was depleted at mid-vegetative stage and a moderate 9-day water stress period was imposed during the early reproductive phase. The combined stress accelerated seed production, lowering yield, one-seed weight and seed number per plant, but rebalanced seed globulin composition. In fact, the moderate water stress mitigated the negative effect of sulfur-deficiency on the accumulation of sulfur-rich globulins in seeds, probably due to a lower seed sink strength f…