Journal article
Elevated CO2 decreases both transpiration flow and concentrations of Ca and Mg in the xylem sap of wheat
A Houshmandfar, GJ Fitzgerald, M Tausz
Journal of Plant Physiology | Published : 2015
Abstract
The impact of elevated atmospheric [CO2] (e[CO2]) on plants often includes a decrease in their nutrient status, including Ca and Mg, but the reasons for this decline have not been clearly identified. One of the proposed hypotheses is a decrease in transpiration-driven mass flow of nutrients due to decreased stomatal conductance. We used glasshouse and Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiments with wheat to show that, in addition to decrease in transpiration rate, e[CO2] decreased the concentrations of Ca and Mg in the xylem sap. This result suggests that uptake of nutrients is not only decreased by reduced transpiration-driven mass flow, but also by as yet unidentified mechanisms that lead ..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The Australian Grains Free Air CO<INF>2</INF> Enrichment (AGFACE) facility is jointly run by the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) and received funding from the Australian Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, the Grain Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), and the Australian Research Council (ARC). The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the AGFACE field team lead by Russel Argall, and of Mahabubur Mollah for operating the CO<INF>2</INF> enrichment technology. We thank Najib Ahmady for laboratory management, and Marc Nicolas for helpful suggestions regarding xylem sap extraction. AH receives a Melbourne International Research Scholarship.