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Characterizing Se transfer in the soil-crop systems under field condition

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Abstract

Aims

A comparison was performed between plant species to study Se accumulation and translocation in the crops under field condition.

Methods

Wheat, rice and canola were sampled with respective cultivated soils from the Yangtze River Delta area. The concentrations of total Se and bio-available Se and a number of parameters (N, P, S, Fe, Ca, Mg, Al, K, Mn, pH and organic carbon) were analyzed, and the net translocation coefficients of Se in the soil-crop systems were calculated.

Results

The concentrations of Se in plants significantly differed between crop species, in spite of concentrations of total Se and bio-available Se and related parameters in the soils showing no significant difference among the wheat, rice and canola sampled sites. With regard to the seeds, wheat exhibited significantly higher Se concentration than rice and canola; whereas for the straw and root, wheat showed lower Se concentration than canola and rice. The net translocation coefficients of Se in different soil-crop systems exhibited different patterns, suggesting that the difference is mainly caused by a discrepancy in Se translocation from straw to grain.

Conclusions

Wheat has a weaker capability to accumulate Se compared with rice and canola, but a significantly stronger capability to transport Se from its straw to seed. These differences might be related to the influence of S on Se differences, comparing the biochemical behavior and transport of S and Se in plants of different plant species. Selenium follows sulfur during accumulation in wheat and rice because both elements are accumulated in plant tissues mainly in the form of amino acids; whereas in canola, the influence of S on Se accumulation is not as obvious as in wheat and rice because the seeds contain more non-amino acid organic S compounds.

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Abbreviations

BI:

Bio-accumulation index

NTC:

Net translocation coefficient

OC:

Organic carbon

SeCys:

Selenocysteine

SeMet:

Selenomethionine

WS-Se:

Water-soluble Se

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (Grants No BK20160947 and BK20150915) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No 41503099 and 41501197).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Cheng Wang & Fahua Zhu

  2. Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    Junfeng Ji

Authors
  1. Cheng Wang
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  2. Junfeng Ji
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  3. Fahua Zhu
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Correspondence to Cheng Wang or Junfeng Ji.

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Wang, C., Ji, J. & Zhu, F. Characterizing Se transfer in the soil-crop systems under field condition. Plant Soil 415, 535–548 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3185-1

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