Abstract
Spring wheat plants were grown in a 137Cs labelled nutrient solution, either in the presence or absence of NH4 as a secondary N source. Between 11 and 64 days after sowing (DAS), plants were harvested on nine occasions. The plants supplied with NH4 and NO3 had lower root 137Cs Activity Concentrations (AC) than those supplied with NO3 only. Shoot AC were equal in both nutrition treatments. Shoot and root 137Cs AC (dry weight basis) showed the same trends with plant age in both nutrition treatments. Shoot AC almost doubled between 11 and 28 DAS after which they gradually decreased concomitant with a similar decrease in K concentrations. Root AC were always higher than shoot AC and increased to a maximum at 35 DAS after which they fluctuated. Expressed on a tissue water basis, the 137Cs AC varied less during plant age than did dry weight based AC. Furthermore, root and shoot AC expressed on a tissue water basis were almost equal. It is shown that the initial increase in 137Cs AC in both root and shoot can largely be explained by the initial dilution of absorbed 137Cs in the unlabelled seedling tissues. No correlation was found between K and 137Cs distribution among ears, leaves, stems and roots in 64 old wheat plants. NH4 as a secondary N source in a nitrate nutrient solution marginally affected 137Cs distribution.
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Abbreviations
- AC:
-
activity concentrations
- DAS:
-
days after sowing
References
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Smolders, E., Shaw, G. Changes in radiocaesium uptake and distribution in wheat during plant development: a solution culture study. Plant Soil 176, 1–6 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00017669
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00017669