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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Plant phosphorus status has a limited influence on the concentration of phosphorus-mobilising carboxylates in the rhizosphere of chickpea

Madeleine Wouterlood A , Hans Lambers A and Erik J. Veneklaas A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: evenekla@cyllene.uwa.edu.au

Functional Plant Biology 32(2) 153-159 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP04084
Submitted: 5 May 2004  Accepted: 6 December 2004   Published: 24 February 2005

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to investigate whether carboxylate exudation by chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a response to phosphorus (P) deficiency or a constitutive trait. The effect of P supply on carboxylate concentrations in the plant and in the rhizosphere of chickpea cultivar Heera was studied in a sand culture. Plants were grown in pots supplied with 200 mL of solution containing 0–500 μm P every 3 d. Malonate was the main carboxylate exuded, and the main carboxylate in roots; shoots contained mainly citrate and malate. Contrary to what has been reported for other species, carboxylate concentrations in the rhizosphere decreased only slightly at high P supply, but they were still substantial. The effect of P supply on the rate of exudation was studied in a split-root sand culture. Root systems were split into two pots, one root half received no P and the other half received 200 mL of solution containing 0–500 μm P. The rhizosphere of both root halves contained similar concentrations of carboxylates, even when the plants received a different supply of P. Our results indicate that carboxylate exudation is determined by internal P rather than external factors. The fact that chickpea roots always exude carboxylates indicates that exudation in this species is largely constitutive.

Keywords: carboxylates, chickpea, citrate, malate, malonate, phosphorus, rhizosphere, split-root.


Acknowledgments

We thank Dr Pieter Poot for statistical advice and Dr Mike Bolland, Dr Matt Denton, Stuart Pearse and the anonymous reviewers for their critical comments on the manuscript. Funding for this project was acquired from the University of Western Australia (UPA(IS) scholarship for M. Wouterlood), School of Plant Biology and the ARC (E Veneklaas and H Lambers).


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