The concept of mineral plant nutrient in the light of evolution.

The concept of mineral plant nutrient has been the subject of a long debate. Here, we suggest that an updated discussion on this issue requires considering three dimensions. The first one is ontological as it refers to the fundamentals that underlie the category of being a mineral plant nutrient, the second one refers to the practical rules helping to assign a given element to that category, while the third dimension implies the consequences of those rules for human activities.

Subsoil-potassium depletion accounts for the nutrient budget in high-potassium agricultural soils.

Continuous potassium (K) removal without replenishment is progressively mining Argentinean soils. Our goals were to evaluate the sensitivity of soil-K to K budgets, quantify soil-K changes over time along the soil profile, and identify soil variables that regulate soil-K depletion. Four on-farm trials under two crop rotations including maize, wheat and soybean were evaluated.

Design of artificial red blood cells using polymeric hydrogel microcapsules: hydrogel stability improvement and polymer selection.

Purpose: To improve the stability of pectin-oligochitosan hydrogel microcapsules under physiological conditions.

Methods: Two different approaches were examined: change of the cross-linker length and treatment of the hydrogel microcapsules with 150 Mm CaCl2. Replacement of pectin with alginate was also studied.

Corrigendum to: Genetic mapping of basal root gravitropism and phosphorus acquisition efficiency in common bean.

Root gravitropism determines the relative distribution of plant roots in different soil layers, and therefore, may influence the acquisition of shallow soil resources such as phosphorus (P). Growth pouch and field studies were conducted to evaluate root gravitropism of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in response to P deficiency and to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with this trait.

Genetic mapping of basal root gravitropism and phosphorus acquisition efficiency in common bean.

Root gravitropism determines the relative distribution of plant roots in different soil layers, and therefore, may influence the acquisition of shallow soil resources such as phosphorus (P). Growth pouch and field studies were conducted to evaluate root gravitropism of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in response to P deficiency and to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with this trait.

Spatial mapping of phosphorus influx in bean root systems using digital autoradiography.

A novel technique was developed to spatially map the phosphorus net influx capacity in intact root systems. The method is based on digital autoradiography and permits the quantification of phosphorus influx at high spatial resolution (2 mm). Roots of 18-d-old common bean plants were exposed to (32)P-labelled orthophosphate, quickly frozen, excised, lyophilized, scanned, and exposed to a storage phosphor screen.

A critical test of the two prevailing theories of plant response to nutrient availability.

Whereas the "law of the minimum" (LM) states that plant growth is limited by a single resource at any one time, the "multiple limitation hypothesis" (MLH) proposes that optimum plant behavior results from balancing resource costs and benefits so that all resources limit plant growth simultaneously. We tested the hypothesis that neither the LM nor the MLH account for plant responses to all mineral nutrients. Fronds of the aquatic plant Lemna minor were grown in nutrient solutions with increasing levels of four nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium.

Acquisition and allocation of resources in two waterlogging-tolerant grasses.

This study focuses on the following questions: (i) whether reductions in root:shoot ratio have a cost in terms of nutrient balance of the plant, and (ii) whether changes in resource-allocation patterns are proportional among different resources. Our approach was to analyse the variations in the allocation pattern induced by soil waterlogging. A pot experiment was conducted to analyse the effects of waterlogging on biomass, phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) accumulation of Paspalum dilatatum and Danthonia montevidensis, two waterlogging-tolerant grasses.

Mechanisms for the increase in phosphorus uptake of waterlogged plants: soil phosphorus availability, root morphology and uptake kinetics.

Waterlogging frequently reduces plant biomass allocation to roots. This response may result in a variety of alterations in mineral nutrition, which range from a proportional lowering of whole-plant nutrient concentration as a result of unchanged uptake per unit of root biomass, to a maintenance of nutrient concentration by means of an increase in uptake per unit of root biomass. The first objective of this paper was to test these two alternative hypothetical responses.