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Effects of oxytetracycline on plant growth, phosphorus uptake, and carboxylates in the rhizosheath of alfalfa

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Abstract

Aims

Residues of antibiotics such as oxytetracycline (OTC) in soil can affect microbial compositions and activities, thus affecting soil P availability, and consequently plant P uptake and growth.

Methods

A pot experiment was performed to grow alfalfa in a loess soil with different doses of P (0, 25, 50, and 100 mg kg−1) and OTC (0, 25, 50, and 100 mg kg−1). Plant dry mass, shoot and root P concentrations, bulk soil and rhizosheath pH, rhizosheath carboxylates, and bulk soil alkaline phosphatase activity were determined.

Results

Shoot dry mass and root dry mass increased with increasing P dose, while shoot dry mass decreased with increasing OTC dose, especially at lower P doses (0 and 25 mg kg−1). Addition of OTC slightly reduced P concentrations in shoots and roots, but did not reduce plant P content consistently. Increasing OTC dose significantly reduced bulk soil alkaline phosphatase activity at 0P and strongly reduced rhizosheath tartrate amount at all P doses.

Conclusions

The effects of OTC on plant growth and P uptake depended on both OTC and P doses in soil. High OTC dose had negative effects on shoot P uptake and growth, especially at lower P doses, while it had a positive effect on root growth at higher P doses.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by The National Key Research and Development Plan of China (2017YFC0504504), and The Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province (2019JM-411). Rhizosheath carboxylates were analyzed using The Biology Teaching and Research Core Facility at College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University. We thank Xiyan Chen for helping the analysis of rhizosheath carboxylates using HPLC.

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Author notes

  1. Zekun Zhang and Rui Su contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau/College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China

    Zekun Zhang, Rui Su, Chao Chang, Xiao Cheng, Qi Peng & Honghua He

  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China

    Qi Peng & Honghua He

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Qi Peng

  4. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6001, Australia

    Hans Lambers & Honghua He

  5. The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6001, Australia

    Hans Lambers

  6. Department of Plant Nutrition, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Hans Lambers

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  1. Zekun Zhang
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  2. Rui Su
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  3. Chao Chang
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Correspondence to Honghua He.

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Zhang, Z., Su, R., Chang, C. et al. Effects of oxytetracycline on plant growth, phosphorus uptake, and carboxylates in the rhizosheath of alfalfa. Plant Soil 461, 501–515 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04840-0

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