Skip to main content
Log in

Effects of pH and heavy metal concentrations in solution culture on the proton release, growth and elemental composition ofAlyssum murale andRaphanus sativus L.

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The proton release by a species that can hyperaccumulate nickel (Alyssum murale) and by a non-accumulator (Raphanus sativus L.) was studied at different pH and heavy metal concentrations in solution culture. Both factors influenced the growth and composition of the plants.A. murale was more sensitive than radish to a decrease of pH from 7.0 to 6.0 in the growth medium; plant yield and proton production diminished with decreasing pH. However, yields and proton production of radish only decreased at pH 5.5. The differences in the amounts of protons produced between the hyperaccumulator species and radish were not large enough to conclude that decreasing pH in the rhizosphere ofA. murale is a mechanism for heavy metal solubilization.

Nickel concentrations inA. murale followed the typical pattern of an accumulator plant — more Ni was accumulated in the shoots than in the roots. Lower concentrations of Zn and Cd occurred in the shoots than in roots ofA. murale, and also of Ni in radish. The concentrations of Co inA. murale shoots were increased when Zn, Ni and Cd were absent from the nutrient solution. However, Co concentrations in radish shoots were independent of the concentrations of other heavy metals in the growth medium.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baker A J M 1981 Accumulators and excluders — Strategies in the response of plants to heavy metals. J. Plant Nutr. 3, 643–654.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker A J M and Brooks R R 1989 Terrestrial higher plants which hyperaccumulate metallic elements — a review of their distribution, ecology and phytochemistry. Biorecovery 1, 81–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernal M P, McGrath S P, Miller A J and Baker A J M 1994 Comparison of the chemical changes in the rhizosphere of the nickel hyperaccumulatorAlyssum murale with the non-accumulatorRaphanus sativus. Plant and Soil 164.

  • Bick W, Dekock P C and Vergnano Gambi O 1982 A relationship between free amino acid and nickel contents in leaves and seeds ofAlyssum bertolonii. Plant and Soil 66, 117–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks R R, Morrison R S, Reeves R D, Dudley T R and Akman Y 1979 Hyperaccumulation of nickel byAlyssum Linnaeus (Cruciferae). Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 203, 387–403.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks R R and Radford C C 1978 Nickel accumulation by European species of the genusAlyssum. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 200, 217–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks R R, Shaw S and Asensi-Marfil A 1981a Some observations on the ecology, metal uptake and nickel tolerance ofAlyssum serpyllifolium subspecies from the Iberian Peninsula. Vegetatio 45, 183–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks R R, Shaw S and Asensi Marfil A 1981b The chemical form and physiological function of nickel in some IberianAlyssum species. Physiol. Plant. 51, 167–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gabbrielli R, Mattioni C and Vergnano O 1991 Accumulation mechanisms and heavy metal tolerance of a nickel hyperaccumulator. J. Plant Nutr. 14, 1067–1080.

    Google Scholar 

  • Homer F A, Morrison R S, Brooks R R, Clemens J and Reeves R D 1991 Comparative studies of nickel, cobalt, and copper uptake by some nickel hyperaccumulators of the genusAlyssum. Plant and Soil 138, 195–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabata-Pendias A and Pendias H 1992 Trace Elements in Soils and Plants. 2nd edition. C.R.C. Press, Boca Raton, Florida. 365 p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalbasi M and Tabatabai M A 1985 Simultaneous determination of nitrate, chloride, sulfate and phosphate in plant materials by ion chromatography. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 16, 787–800.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kersten W J, Brooks R R, Reeves R D and Jaffré T 1980 Nature of nickel complexes inPsychotria douarrei and other nickelaccumulating plants. Phytochemistry 19, 1963–1965.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee J, Reeves R D, Brooks R R and Jaffré T 1978 The relation between nickel and citric acid in some nickel-accumulating plants. Phytochemistry 17, 1033–1035.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marschner H, Römheld V and Cakmak I 1987 Root-induced changes of nutrient availability in the rhizosphere. J. Plant Nutr. 10, 1175–1184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mengel K and Schubert S 1985 Active extrusion of protons into deionized water by roots of intact maize plants. Plant Physiol. 79, 344–348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison R S, Brooks R R and Reeves R D 1980 Nickel uptake byAlyssum species. Plant Sci. Lett. 17, 451–457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vergnano Gambi O, Brooks R R and Radford C C 1979 L'accumulo di nichel nelle specie italiane del genereAlyssum. Webbia 33, 269–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergnano Gambi O, Gabbrielli R and Pancaro L 1982 Nickel, chromium and cobalt in plants from Italian serpentine areas. Acta Oecologica Oecol. Plant. 3, 291–306.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bernal, M.P., McGrath, S.P. Effects of pH and heavy metal concentrations in solution culture on the proton release, growth and elemental composition ofAlyssum murale andRaphanus sativus L.. Plant Soil 166, 83–92 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02185484

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02185484

Key words

Navigation