Summary
Effects of aluminium on theTrifolium repens var Huia-Rhizobium trifolii strain HP3 symbiosis were studied using an axenic solution-culture system. With, 10 μM phosphate, 50 μM aluminium reduced or inhibited root elongation at pH<5.0, root hair formation at pH< 5.0–5.5, and Rhizobium multiplication in the rhizosphere and nodule formation at pH<6.0. In the absence of aluminium, root elongation and root hair formation were reduced at pH<4.3, and Rhizobium multiplication and nodule formation were inhibited at pH<5.0. Root hair formation was more sensitive to aluminium at pH<5 than was root elongation. No effect of aluminium on Rhizobium multiplication and nodule formation at pH<5 was detected because both were sensitive to pH alone.
At pH 5.5 most of the aluminium changed immediately to a form which was susceptible to low-speed centrifugation, but which was detected by the aluminon method of analysis, and after 24 h a precipitate formed. the concentration of phosphate was reduced also, to approximately 1μM. Toxicity was overcome by either increasing the phosphate concentration from 10 to 50 μM, or by increasing the pH to 6.0 and the calcium, concentration to 1000μM.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Hartwell B L and Pember F R 1918 The presence of aluminium as a reason for the difference in the effects of so-called acid soil on barley and rye. Soil Sci. 6, 259–279.
Magistad O C 1925 The aluminium content of the soil solution and its relation to soil reaction and plant growth. Soil Sci. 20, 181–215.
Munns D N 1965. Soil acidity and growth of a legume. III. Interaction of lime and phosphate on growth ofMedicago sativaL in relation to aluminium toxicity and phosphate fixation. Aust. J. Agric. Res. 16, 757–766.
Foy C D and Brown J C 1963 Toxic factors in acid soils. I. Characterisation of aluminium toxicity in cotton. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 27, 403–407.
Pavan M A, Bingham F T and Pratt P F 1982 Toxicity of aluminium to coffee in ultisols and oxisols amended with CaCO3, MgCO3 and CaSO4·2H2O. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 46, 1201–1207.
Coleman N T and Thomas G W 1967 The basic chemistry of soil acidity.In Soil Acidity and Liming. pp 1–41. Eds R W Pearson and F. Adams. ASA, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Bache B W 1974 Soluble aluminium and calcium-aluminium exchange in relation to the pH of dilute calcium chloride suspensions of acid soils. J Soil. Sci. 25, 320–332.
Carvalho M M de, Edwards D G, Andrew C S and Asher C J 1981 Aluminium toxicity, nodulation and growth ofStylosanthes species. Agron. J. 73, 261–265.
Carvalho M M de, Edwards D G, Asher C J and Andrew C S 1982 Effects of aluminium on nodulation of twoStylosanthes species grown in nutrient solution. Plant and Soil 64, 141–152.
Keyser H H and Munns D N 1979 Effects of calcium, manganese and aluminium on growth of rhizobia in acid media. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 43, 500–503.
Wood M, Cooper J E and Holding A J 1984 Soil acidity factors and nodulation ofTrifolium repens. Plant and Soil 78, 367–379.
Hsu P H 1977 Aluminium hydroxides and oxyhydroxides.In Minerals in Soil Environments. pp 99–143. Eds J B Dixon and S B Weed, Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Wood M, Cooper J E and Holding A J 1983 Method to assess the effects of soil acidity factors on legume-Rhizobium symbioses. Soil Biol. Biochem. 15, 123–124.
David D J 1980 Determination of aluminium in plant materials by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Commun. in Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 11, 189–199.
Hsu P H 1963 Effect of initial pH, phosphate and silicate on the determination of aluminium with aluminon. Soil Sci. 96, 230–238.
Jayman T C Z and Sivasubramanian S 1974 The use of ascorbic acid to eliminate interference from iron in the aluminon method for determining aluminium in plant and soil extracts. Analyst 99, 296–301.
Watanabe F S and Olsen S R 1965 Test of an ascorbic acid method for determining phosphorus in water and NaHCO3 extracts from soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. Proc. 29, 677–678.
Clarkson D T 1965 The effect of aluminium and some other trivalent metal cations on cell division in the root apices ofAllium cepa. Ann. Bot. 29, 309–315.
Thomas G W 1975 The relationship between organic matter content and exchangeable aluminium in acid soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. Proc. 35, 591.
Helyar K R and Munns D N 1976 Phosphate fluxes in the soil-plant system: a computer simulation. Hilgardia 43, 103–130.
Foy C D 1974 Effects of aluminium on plant growth.In The Plant Root and its Environment. pp 601–642. Ed. R W Carson. Univ. Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA.
Clarkson D T 1969. Metabolic aspects of aluminium toxicity and some possible mechanisms of resistance.In Ecological Aspects of the Mineral Nutrition of Plants. pp 381–397. Eds. I H Rorison, A D Bradshaw, M J Chadwick, R J Jeffries, D H Jennings and P B Tinker. Blackwell, Oxford.
Helyar K R 1978 Effects of aluminium and manganese toxicities on legume growth.In Mineral Nutrition of Legumes in Tropical and Subtropical Soils. pp 208–231. Eds. C S Andrew and E J Kamprath. CSIRO, Melbourne, Australia.
Graham P H and Parker C A 1964 Diagnostic features in the characterisation of the root nodule bacteria of legumes. Plant and Soil 20, 383–396.
Keyser H H and Munns D N 1979 Tolerance of rhizobia to acidity, aluminium and phosphate. Soil Sic. Soc. Am. J. 43, 519–523.
Smith R W 1971 Reactions among equilibrium and non-equilibrium species of aluminium hydroxy complexes. Adv. Chem. Ser. 106, 250–279.
Hsu P H and Bates T F 1964 Formation of X-ray amorphous and crystalline aluminium hydroxides. Mineral Mag. 33, 749–768.
Cassman K G, Munns D N and Peck D P 1981 Phosphorus nutrition ofRhizobium japonicum: strain differences in phosphate storage and utilisation. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 45, 517–520.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wood, M., Cooper, J.E. & Holding, A.J. Aluminium toxicity and nodulation ofTrifolium repens . Plant Soil 78, 381–391 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02450371
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02450371