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Ammonium under solution culture alleviates aluminum toxicity in rice and reduces aluminum accumulation in roots compared with nitrate

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Abstract

Al stress and ammonium–nitrogen nutrition often coexist in acidic soils due to their low pH and weak nitrification ability. Rice is the most Al-resistant species among small grain cereal crops and prefers NH4 + as its major inorganic nitrogen source. This study investigates the effects of NH4 + and NO3 − on Al toxicity and Al accumulation in rice, and thereby associates rice Al resistance with its NH4 + preference. Two rice subspecies, indica cv. Yangdao6 and japonica cv. Wuyunjing7, were used in this study. After treatment with or without Al under conditions of varying NH4 + and NO3 − supply, rice seedlings were harvested for the determination of root elongation, callose content, biomass, Al concentration and medium pH. The results indicated that Wuyunjing7 was more Al-resistant and NH4 +-preferring than Yangdao6. NH4 + alleviated Al toxicity in two cultivars compared with NO3 −. Both NH4 +-Al supply and pretreatment with NH4 + reduced Al accumulation in roots and root tips compared with NO3 −. NH4 + decreased but NO3 − increased the medium pH, and root tips accumulated more Al with a pH increase from 3.5 to 5.5. Increasing the NO3 − concentration enhanced Al accumulation in root tips but increasing the NH4 + concentration had the opposite effect. These results show NH4 + alleviates Al toxicity for rice and reduces Al accumulation in roots compared with NO3 −, possibly through medium pH changes and ionic competitive effects. Making use of the protective effect of NH4 +, in which the Al resistance increases, is advised for acidic soils, and the hypothesis that rice Al resistance is associated with the preferred utilization of NH4 + is suggested.

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Acknowledgements

This investigation was financially supported by a grant from the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KSCX2-YW-N-002) and the Funds for Creative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40621001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Xue Qiang Zhao, Ren Fang Shen & Qing Bin Sun

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Qing Bin Sun

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  1. Xue Qiang Zhao
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  2. Ren Fang Shen
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Correspondence to Ren Fang Shen.

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Responsible Editor: Thomas B. Kinraide.

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Zhao, X.Q., Shen, R.F. & Sun, Q.B. Ammonium under solution culture alleviates aluminum toxicity in rice and reduces aluminum accumulation in roots compared with nitrate. Plant Soil 315, 107–121 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9736-8

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