Nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) are two important mineral nutrients in regulating leaf photosynthesis. Studying the interactive effects of N and K on regulating N allocation and photosynthesis (Pn) of rice leaves will be of great significance for further increasing leaf Pn, photosynthetic N use efficiency (PNUE) and grain yield. We measured the gas exchange of rice leaves in a field experiment and tested different kinds of leaf N based on N morphology and function, and calculated the interactive effects of N and K on N allocation and the PNUE. Compared with N0 (0 kg N ha− 1) and K0 (0 kg K2O ha− 1) treatments, the Pn was increased by 17.1 and 12.2% with the supply of N and K. Compared with N0K0 (0 kg N and 0 kg K2O ha− 1), N0K120 (0 kg N and 120 kg K2O ha− 1) and N0K180 (0 kg N and 180 kg K2O ha− 1), N supply increased the absolute content of photosynthetic N (Npsn) by 15.1, 15.5 and 10.5% on average, and the storage N (Nstore) was increased by 32.7, 64.9 and 72.7% on average. The relative content of Npsn was decreased by 5.6, 12.1 and 14.5%, while that of Nstore was increased by 8.7, 27.8 and 33.8%. Supply of K promoted the transformation of Nstore to Npsn despite the leaf N content (Na) was indeed decreased. Compared with N0K0, N180K0 (180 kg N and 0 kg K2O ha− 1) and N270K0 (270 kg N and 0 kg K2O ha− 1), K supply increased the relative content of Npsn by 17.7, 8.8 and 7.3%, and decreased the relative content of Nstore by 24.2, 11.4 and 8.7% respectively. This study indicated the mechanism that K supply decreased the Na but increased the Npsn content and then increased leaf Pn and PNUE from a new viewpoint of leaf N allocation. The supply of K promoted the transformation of Nstore to Npsn and increased the PNUE. The decreased Nstore mainly resulted from the decrease of non-protein N. Combined use of N and K could optimize leaf N allocation and maintain a high leaf Npsn content and PNUE.

Most studies of photosynthesis in chlorenchymas under potassium (K) deficiency focus exclusively on leaves; however, little information is available on the physiological role of K on reproductive structures, which play a critical role in plant carbon gain. Brassica napus L., a natural organ-succession species, was used to compare the morphological, anatomical and photo-physiological differences between leaves and siliques exposed to K-deficiency. Compared to leaves, siliques displayed considerably lower CO2 assimilation rates (A) under K-deficient (−K) or sufficient conditions (+K), limited by decreased stomatal conductance (g s), apparent quantum yield (α) and carboxylation efficiency (CE), as well as the ratio of the maximum rate of electron transport (J max) and the maximum rate of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylation (V cmax). The estimated J max, V cmax and α of siliques were considerably lower than the theoretical value calculated on the basis of a similar ratio between these parameters and chlorophyll concentration (i.e. J max/Chl, V cmax/Chl and α/Chl) to leaves, of which the gaps between estimated- and theoretical-J max was the largest. In addition, the average ratio of J max to V cmax was 16.1% lower than that of leaves, indicating that the weakened electron transport was insufficient to meet the requirements for carbon assimilation. Siliques contained larger but fewer stoma, tightly packed cross-section with larger cells and fewer intercellular air spaces, fewer and smaller chloroplasts and thin grana lamellae, which might be linked to the reduction in light capture and CO2 diffusion. K-deficiency significantly decreased leaf and silique A under the combination of down-regulated stomatal size and g s, chloroplast number, α, V cmax and J max, while the CO2 diffusion distance between chloroplast and cell wall (D chl-cw) was enhanced. Siliques were more sensitive than leaves to K-starvation, exhibiting smaller reductions in tissue K and parameters such as g s, V cmax, J max and D chl-cw. Siliques had substantially smaller A than leaves, which was attributed to less efficient functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus, especially the integrated limitations of biochemical processes (J max and V cmax) and α; however, siliques were slightly less sensitive to K deficiency.