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The Effect of Soil Moisture and Rubidium Concentration on Diffusion and Uptake of Rubidium-86¹

ABSTRACT

An autoradiographic technique was used to study the effect of soil moisture and Rb concentration on Rb⁸⁶ diffusion and uptake by corn plants. Changes in soil moisture influenced the rate of diffusion, rate of root elongation, and the incidence of root hairs. The self-diffusion of Rb⁸⁶ was linearly correlated (R² = 0.89) positively with soil mositure, Rb concentration, and interaction of these two factors.

The correlation of Rb⁸⁶ uptake from the soil was positively correlated with Rb⁸⁶ diffusion values approximated from measurements made of the depleted areas about the roots. When the root diameter used in the calculation included the length of the root hairs, the r² was 0.70 and when the root hairs were not included the r² was 0.56. The correlation of uptake with the values of Dp/b from self-diffusion studies gave an r² of 0.99.

Uptake by roots without root hairs was linearly correlated (r² = 0.98) with soil moisture, Rb concentration, and their interaction. Since the uptake relationships were similar whether or not the roots possessed root hairs, it was concluded that moisture's effect on rate of diffusion was of greater significance in its effect on Rb⁸⁶ uptake than was its effect on root hair incidence in these experiments.

¹ Journal paper No. 2126 Purdue University Agr. Sta., Lafayette, Ind. Contribution from the Department of Agronomy. Presented before Div. S-4, Soil Science Society of America, Nov. 19, 1963, at Denver, Colo.

² Formerly Research Assistant in Soils, Purdue University, now Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy, University of Arkansas and Professor of Agronomy, Purdue University.

Received for publication May 20, 1963. Accepted for publication October 24, 1963.