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Cation uptake and allocation by red pine seedlings under cation-nutrient stress in a column growth experiment

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Abstract

Background and aims

Plant nutrient uptake is affected by environmental stress, but how plants respond to cation-nutrient stress is poorly understood. We assessed the impact of varying degrees of cation-nutrient stress on cation uptake in an experimental plant-mineral system.

Methods

Column experiments, with red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) seedlings growing in sand/mineral mixtures, were conducted for up to 9 months. The Ca and K were supplied from both minerals and nutrient solutions with varying Ca and K concentrations.

Results

Cation nutrient stress had little impact on carbon allocation after 9 months of plant growth and K was the limiting nutrient for biomass production. Measurement of Ca/Sr and K/Rb ratios allowed independent estimation of dissolution incongruency and discrimination against Sr and Rb during cation uptake processes. The fraction of K in biomass from biotite increased with decreasing K supply from nutrient solutions. The mineral anorthite was consistently the major source of Ca, regardless of nutrient treatment.

Conclusions

Red pine seedlings exploited more mineral K in response to more severe K deficiency. This did not occur for Ca since Ca was not limiting plant growth. Plant discrimination factors must be carefully considered to accurately identify nutrient sources using cation tracers.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jeff Boyle, Scott Boroughs, and Charles Knaack at Washington State University for analytical assistance and helpful discussions. We thank our collaborators at Washington State University, particularly generous and ongoing accommodations within the School of Biological Sciences Plant Growth Service Center. This work is supported by National Science Foundation grant No. 0952399 to Kent Keller and collaborators. A portion of this research was performed at the Environmental Molecular Sciences laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by the U.S. DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER), located at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated for the DOE by Battelle Memorial Institute under contract DE-AC06-76RLO 1830.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of the Environment, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

    Zhenqing Shi, Daryl Stacks & C. Kent Keller

  2. Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

    Zhenqing Shi, Michael Grant, James Harsh & Melissa Letourneau

  3. Departments of Chemistry & Geology and Environmental Sciences, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY, USA

    Zsuzsanna Balogh-Brunstad

  4. Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA

    Richard Gill

  5. USDA-ARS, Root Disease and Biological Control Research Unit, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

    Linda Thomashow

  6. Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA

    Alice Dohnalkova

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  1. Zhenqing Shi
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Correspondence to Zhenqing Shi.

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Responsible Editor: N. Jim Barrow.

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Shi, Z., Balogh-Brunstad, Z., Grant, M. et al. Cation uptake and allocation by red pine seedlings under cation-nutrient stress in a column growth experiment. Plant Soil 378, 83–98 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-2016-2

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