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Measurement of uptake of chelated and unchelated Ca and Sr from solution culture

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Summary

The uptake of Ca and Sr by three-week old tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants from solutions containing Ca++ and Sr++, and chelated Ca and Sr (CaL and SrL) was measured over a two-day period. The solution was double-labelled with Ca45 and Sr85. Two chelates, EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) and DTPA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) were used at five chelate-cation ratios. When the Ca and Sr content of the solution was held constant, addition of chelate reduced uptake. The reduction was greater with EDTA than with DTPA.

The Ca/Sr ratio of uptake was used to measure the proportion of uptake as the chelated and unchelated species. The Ca++/Sr++ ratio was different from the CaL/SrL ratio in solution because of the different equilibrium reactions of Ca and Sr with L. Direct uptake of the CaL and SrL was indicated. In solutions where Ca++ = CaL, uptake of CaEDTA was 0.47 of uptake of Ca++ and uptake of CaDTPA was 0.95 of uptake of Ca++.

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Journal Paper No. 4969. Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station, Lafayette, Indiana 47907. Contribution from the Department of Agronomy. This research was supported in part by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission under Contract AT(11-1)-1495.

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Elgawhary, S.M., Barber, S.A. Measurement of uptake of chelated and unchelated Ca and Sr from solution culture. Plant Soil 39, 581–590 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00264175

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00264175

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