Summary
It is postulated that in nutrient solutions of moderate concentrations (e.g. Hoagland solution) the rate-limiting step in nutrient uptake by roots resides in the metabolic activity of plasma membrane and cytoplasm, but that in very dilute solutions and in infertile soils diffusion from soil through mucigel and cell wall regions to the metabolic sites may become the rate-limiting process.
For specific models of soil-root boundary regions isotopic transport of K* from soil into root was calculated with the aid of pertinent diffusion equations. Contact exchange between clay particles and root surfaces gains in importance as the concentration of ions in the soil solution is reduced. Two-phase experiments with soil and sand columns demonstrate proximity effects between root surface and soil matrix, including double-layer interaction.
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Supported in part by A.E.C. Contract AT-(11-1)-34, Project No. 55. Paper presented at the meetings of the Western Soc. of Soil Science, Riverside, Calif., June 22, 1965.
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Jenny, H. Pathways of ions from soil into root according to diffusion models. Plant Soil 25, 265–289 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01347823
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01347823