Variation in the ionome of tropical ‘metal crops’ in response to soil potassium availability

Philip Nti Nkrumah*, Guillaume Echevarria, Peter D. Erskine, Rufus L. Chaney, Sukaibin Sumail, Antony van der Ent

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background and Aims: In tropical ultramafic soils, potassium (K) is typically the most growth limiting nutrient. However, tropical nickel (Ni) hyperaccumulator plants, including Phyllanthus rufuschaneyi and Rinorea cf. bengalensis (which are ‘metal crops’ used in agromining) from Malaysia, have unusually high K shoot accumulation compared to other species, despite naturally growing on severely K-impoverished ultramafic soils. This study aimed to establish the response to soil K availability in relation to uptake of K and other elements in the roots and shoots of P. rufuschaneyi and R. cf. bengalensis. Methodology: We undertook an experiment in which soluble K was dosed to ultramafic soil in pots with P. rufuschaneyi and R. cf. bengalensis in Sabah (Malaysia). Results: The results show that root K concentrations increased markedly as the soil K availability increased by 35-fold, whilst the corresponding effect on K accumulation in the shoots of P. rufuschaneyi and R. cf. bengalensis was not significantly different in relation to soil K dosing. Observed divergent responses between root and shoot K accumulation in these species suggests a separate genetic control of K uptake and xylem loading in P. rufuschaneyi and R. cf. bengalensis. Conclusion: The tight control of root-to-shoot K translocation and constrained K accumulation in shoots under a soil K gradient is likely an adaptive mechanism to the evolution of these species to grow in highly nutrient-impoverished ultramafic soils. This study provides information that will be useful for better nutrient management of tropical Ni metal farms that use K-efficient Ni ‘metal crops’.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)185-195
Number of pages11
JournalPlant and Soil
Volume465
Issue number1-2
Early online dateAug 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Accumulation pattern
  • Hyperaccumulator plants
  • Ion balance
  • Nutrient limitation
  • Rhizosphere chemistry
  • Tropical region

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Variation in the ionome of tropical ‘metal crops’ in response to soil potassium availability'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this