Aluminum effect on nitrogenous compounds in Urochloa spp

• Main Author: Souza, Lucas Anjos
• Publication Date: 2014
• Other Authors: Camargos, Liliane Santos, Aguiar, Leandro Ferreira
• Format: Article
• Language: por
• Source: Biotemas (Online)
• Download full: https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/biotemas/article/view/2175-7925.2014v27n3p33

Earth’s surface has, in its composition, around 7% of aluminum (Al), in the form of aluminum oxides or aluminosilicates, however, its availability is greatly dependent on soil pH. Cerrado is a biome presenting low pH soils and it has high amounts of Al+3 available; thus, plant production may become limited. Plants have mechanism to tolerate excessive amounts of Al+3 in soil; one of the mechanisms used for this purpose is the exudation of organic acids, wich are able to form complexes with Al+3, and, thus, it becomes unavailable to plants. Once available, Al+3 can affect nitrogen (N) metabolism, leading to production losses. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of Al+3 on compounds related to N metabolism in 3 species from the genus Urochloa (U. brizantha, U. decumbens, and U. humiducola). The experimental design was completely randomized in a 2 x 3 factorial scheme (with and without Al+3 and 3 species of Urochloa); the dose of Al+3 applied was 200 µmol.L-1 in a solution with pH 4.5. Among the species evaluated, no changes were observed in compound content concentrations related to N metabolism as a response to Al+3, something which may suggest the existence of adaptation mechanisms that allow these plants to keep N metabolism unaltered even in face of a stressful situation.