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American Journal of Plant Physiology

Year: 2006 | Volume: 1 | Issue: 2 | Page No.: 185-192
DOI: 10.3923/ajpp.2006.185.192
Zinc Toxicity and its Influence on Nutrient Uptake in Tea
S. Venkatesan , K.V. Hemalatha and S. Jayaganesh

Abstract: An experiment was conducted using potted plants of the tea cultivar UPASI-9 to document the toxicity limits of zinc and to determine the toxic effects on tea plant and soil. There were nine treatments including an untreated control, where zinc was not added. Zinc acetate was applied to the soil in the pots to make eight treatments, containing 10, 25, 50, 100, 500, 750, 1000 and 2000 mg Zn kg-1 of soil. One-year-old plants of clone UPASI-9 were grown in these pots and the trial was continued for 136 days. The plants grown in soil containing 2000 mg Zn kg-1 died within 15 days, while the plants supplied with 1000 mg Zn kg-1 zinc died within 36 days after imposing treatments. The toxic limits of zinc were found to be 83, 170 and 660 mg kg-1 in leaf, stem and root, respectively. The typical toxicity symptoms were browning of leaves along the midrib starting from about 1.5 to 2.0 cm from the petiole towards the leaf tip and extending throughout the leaf. Addition of zinc increased the translocation of manganese to leaves, while it suppressed the uptake of magnesium. Although there is no report of antagonism between zinc and iron at the absorption sites of roots and during translocation process to stem, the leaf analysis indicated an antagonism. Absorption of phosphorus was also inhibited due to excessive zinc uptake. The soil urease activity went on increasing up to 500 mg kg-1 of zinc and then decreased drastically.

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How to cite this article
S. Venkatesan, K.V. Hemalatha and S. Jayaganesh , 2006. Zinc Toxicity and its Influence on Nutrient Uptake in Tea. American Journal of Plant Physiology, 1: 185-192.

Keywords: Zinc toxicity, uptake of Mg, Mn, P, Na, urease activity and critical toxicity limit

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