Abstract
Two screening methods tested in this study were based on the observation that roots of freshly germinated seeds exhibit their relative tolerance to Al during the first 48 hours of growth. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) varieties were evaluated using toxic/nontoxic soil pairs in petri dishes and toxic/nontoxic solution pairs in a flowing aqueous system. The soils had 0, 61, and 72% Al saturation and the solutions had 0, 1.85 and 3.70 μM l−1 Al from AlCl3 and 0.25 mM l−1 Ca from Ca(NO3)2. Relative root lengths in both systems correctly differentiated 13 genotypes of known Al tolerance into tolerant and intolerant groups. Twenty six other sorghums genotypes were also screened using genotypes of known Al reactions as checks. The soil with 72% Al saturation and the 1.85 μM l−1 Al solution gave the highest correlation between the two systems and both effectively arrayed sorghums of known and unknown tolerance. For routine screening the authors prefer the soil system for its simplicity, efficiency, and use of a natural growth medium.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Borgonovi R A, Schaffert R E and Pitta G V E 1987 1987 Breeding aluminum-tolerant sorghums.In Sorghum for Acid Soils. Eds. L M Gourley and J G Salinas. pp 271–292. CIAT, Cali, Colombia.
Conner A J and Meridith C P 1985 Strategies for the selection and characterization of aluminum resistant variants from cell cultures ofNicotiana plumbagenefolia. Planta 166, 466–473.
Duncan R R 1987 Sorghum genotype comparisons under variable acid stress. J. Plant Nutr. 10, 1079–1088.
Duncan R R, Clark R B and Furlani P R 1983 Laboratory and field evaluations of sorghum for response to aluminum and acid soil. Agron. J. 75, 1023–1026.
Foy C D 1976 General principles involved in screening plants for aluminum and manganese toleranceIn Adaptation to Mineral Stress in Problem Soils. Ed. M J Wright. pp 255–275. Cornell Univ. Agric. Exp. Stn., Ithaca, NY, USA.
Foy C D, Berg W A, and Dewald C L 1987 Tolerances of Old World bluestems to an acid soil high in exchangeable aluminum. Plant and Soil 99, 39–46.
Furlani P R and Clark R B 1981 Screening sorghum for aluminum tolerance in nutrient solutions. Agron. J. 73, 587–594.
Gourley L M 1983 Breeding sorghum for tolerance to aluminum-toxic tropcial soils.In Proc. Plant Breeding Methods and Approaches in Sorghum Workshop for Latin America. pp 299–313. CIMMYT, Batan, Mexico.
Howeler R H 1987 Effective screening techniques for tolerance to aluminum toxicity.In Sorghum for Acid Soils. Eds. L M Gourley and J G Salinas. pp 173–186. CIAT, Cali, Columbia.
Karr M C, Coutinho J, and Ahlrichs J L 1983 Determination of aluminum toxicity in Indiana soils by petri dish bioassay. Proc. Indiana Acad. Sci. 93, 405–411.
Kinraide T B, Arnold R C, and Baligar V C 1985 A rapid assay for aluminum phytotoxcicity at submicromolar concentrations. Physiol. Plant. 65, 245–250.
Konzak C F, Polle F, and Kittrick J A 1976 Screening several crops for aluminum tolerance.In Plant Adaptation to Mineral Stress in Problem Soils. Ed. M J Wright. pp 311–327. Cornell Univ. Agric. Expt. Stn., Ithaca, NY.
Malavolta E, Nogueira F D, Oliveira I P, Nakoyama L, and Eimori J 1981 Aluminum tolerance in sorghum and bean: Methods and results. J. Plant Nutr. 3, 687–694.
Mendes A P, Farina M P W and Channon P 1985 A field evaluation of the differential tolerance to soil acidity of fortyeight South African maize cultivars. S. Afr. Tydskr. Plant Grond. 2, 215–220.
Nicholaides J J and Piha M I 1987 A new methodology to select cultivars tolerant to aluminum and with high yield potential.In Sorghum for Acid soils. Eds. L M Gourley and J G Salinas. pp. 103–116. CIAT, Cali, Colombia.
Parker D R, Kinraide T B and Zelazny L W 1988 Aluminum speciation and phytotoxicity in dilute hydroxy-aluminum solutions. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 52, 438–444.
Portelo E A C and Coutinho J E 1986 Tolerance a acidez do solo de tritical, trigos e centelos. Revista de Ciencias Agrarias 9, 67–82.
Steel R G D and Torrie J H 1960 Principles and Procedures of Statistics with Special Reference to the Biological Sciences. 481 pp. McGraw-Hill Publishers, NY.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Journal paper 11637. Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station, Lafayette, Indiana. Contribution from the Agronomy Department.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hill, P.R., Ahlrichs, J.L. & Ejeta, G. Rapid evaluation of sorghum for aluminum tolerance. Plant Soil 114, 85–90 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02203085
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02203085