2. INTRODUCTION
✔ 17 essential nutrients – complete life cycle
✔ Ca, Mg and S - relatively large amount next to N,P and K 🡪 2o
Nutrient
✔ Plant take nutrients in ionic form from soil by root
✔ Inorganic macronutrients are usually present at low Conc. -
soil 🡪 accumulated against concentration gradient.
✔ Plants therefore have to develop adaptive and flexible
strategies for the acquisition of nutrients.
✔ Further mechanisms are present for (re)distribution throughout
the plant.
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( Marschner, 1995 )
4. • Ion - Definition
– Ion is an atom or molecule which has lost
– or gained one or more electrons, making it
– positively or negatively charged
• Anion: A negatively charged ion
• Cation: A positively charged ion
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5. CONTENT
Mechanisms of Ion uptake
✔Active absorption
▪ Protein lecithin theory
▪ Cytochrome pump theory
✔Passive absorption
▪ Mass flow theory
▪Contact exchange theory
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Movement in Soil
✔Mass flow
✔Diffusion
✔Root Interception
6. Mechanism of Nutrient movement in Soil
Nutrients are absorbed by roots as ions
from the soil water or solution
• Diffusion – Movement of ions from a zone of
high conc. to zone of low conc.
• Mass flow – Movement of ions in soil solution
as water moves
• Root interception – Root grows to the
nutrient
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(Marschner, 1995)
10. Passive Absorption
• Absorption of nutrients along the concentration
gradient
• Absorption of nutrient without expenditure of
metabolic energy
Mass flow theory:
Nutrients are absorbed by the root along with
mass flow of water under the influence of
transpiration
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20. Calcium
• Form – absorbed 🡪 Ca2+
• Avg conc. in plant dry wt 🡪 0.2 – 1.0 %
Functions:
• Cell wall – middle lamella
• Cell division and enlargement, Lipid
metabolism
• Activator of enzymes – ATPase
• Secondary messenger –Stress
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(Fontes et al., 2017)
21. 21
Barber (1966)
Amount of Nutrients Supplied by Mass Flow, Diffusion, and Root
Interception - Corn Roots in a Alfisol
22. 22
Amounts of 45Ca2+ ions (cpm x 105) in various parts of tomato plants grown in
small (190 ml) or large (20,000 ml) containers for 40 d
(Choi et al., 1997)
25. Total Uptake and translocation of Calcium in rice
25 Kobayashi et al. (2013)
26. 26
(White and Broadley, 2003 )
The relationship between Calcium concentration in soil
solution ([Ca2+]ext) and shoot Calcium content
27. Distribution of Calcium, Magnesium and Sulphur in
mature cotton plants
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Plant Parts Ca Mg S
% of Total Uptake
Stems 19 17 14
Leaves 64 38 39
Burs 14 14 22
Seed 3 31 25
Mullins and Burmester (1995)
31. 31
Ca in soil solution
Plant root epidermis
Mass flow
Root Xylem
Apoplastic way in apical root,
symplastic way in matured
root using Calcium channels
Leaf Xylem
All other parts
Transpiration Pull
Diffusion
32. Magnesium
• Form – absorbed 🡪 Mg2+
• Avg conc in plant dry wt 🡪 0.1 – 0.4 %
Functions:
• Chlorophyll – central head in chlorophyll structure
• Activator of enzymes – carboxylase and hexokinase
• Binding ribosome units during protein synthesis
• Important nutrient in plant growth and development
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(Guo, 2017)
33. Magnesium in plant
• Total Mg concentration ranges from 15 – 25 mM (Mooraw
and Maguise, 2008).
• However, most Mg ions are bound or incorporated into
cellular components, which leaves free cytosolic Mg2+ in the
range of 0.4 to 0.5 mM.
• Typically 15– 20% of total leaf Mg is in chlorophyll (White &
Broadley, 2009), although this percentage can be higher or
lower depending on plant Mg status.
• Phloem loading of carbohydrates depends on adequate Mg
levels, as Mg deficient leaves accumulate starch and sugars
(Marschner, 1995).
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41. 41
Mg in soil solution
Plant root epidermis
Mass flow
Root Xylem
Apoplastic way in apical root,
symplastic way in matured
root using MRT transporters
Leaf Xylem and Phloem
All other parts
42. Sulphur
• Form – absorbed 🡪 SO4
2-
• Avg conc in plant dry wt 🡪 0.1 – 4.0 %
Function:
✔Components of amino acids like cysteine, cystine
and methionine
✔ Protein and coenzyme
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43. 43
(Havlin et al., 2005 )
Rates of Root interception, Mass Flow and Diffusion in Ion
Transport to Corn Roots
44. Autoradiography showing the accumulation of sulphate
as a result of mass – flow in corn
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Dark areas represent the areas of
S35 accumulation.
Walker and Barber (1962)
49. 50
SO4
2- in soil solution
Plant root epidermis
Mass flow
Root Xylem
Apoplastic way in apical root,
symplastic way in matured root
using MRT transporters
Root Phloem
All other
parts
Reduction of sulphur to
S compounds and
aminoacids
50. Techniques of secondary nutrient movement
✔ Radiotracer methods
✔ Analyses of exudates from
transported systems using
aphid stylectomy.
✔ Microelectrode Technique.
✔ Patch-clamp technique.
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