Aluminum toxicity reduces the nutritional efficiency of macronutrients and micronutrients in sugarcane seedlings

Abstract

Although the effects of aluminum on the content and accumulation of mineral nutrients in crops have been studied, but nothing is known about its effect on the nutritional efficiency of sugarcane. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of aluminum toxicity on nutritional efficiency, nutrient accumulation, and growth of sugarcane seedling. Sugarcane seedlings of the genotype IACSP95-5000, obtained from one-bud mini-cuttings (3 cm), were used in the test. Seedlings were subjected to treatments in a completely randomized design, with eight Al concentrations in the nutrient solution (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 mg L−1) and three replicates, totaling 24 experimental units. Analyses determined the contents, accumulation, and absorption, transport, and use efficiency of macronutrients, micronutrients, and aluminum, in addition to dry matter production. The results show that Al affected all variables analyzed, with a decrease in the nutritional efficiency of macronutrients and micronutrients and a drastic decrease in the accumulation of macronutrients in the aerial part, which reflected in the decrease in the dry matter of the plants. The root system was the most affected, with a decrease in growth of up to 60%. Aluminum reduced the use efficiency of nutrient in decreasing order: Ca (69%)> N (60%)> K (59%)> Mg (50%)> S (49%)> P (40%). As for micronutrients, the following decreasing order was observed: Fe (73%)> Zn (59%) = Cu (59%)> Mn (25%).

Use of Liming and Incidence of Diseases in Sugarcane

“…Therefore, plant tolerance or resistance to pathogen infection can be increased. Likewise, Borges et al (2020) reported that highly acidic soils reduce plant nutritional efficiency, which requires soil pH correction to improve crop performance.…”

Aluminum in plant: Benefits, toxicity and tolerance mechanisms

“…Guo et al (2018) showed that Al treatment did not only reduce N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S uptake but also decreased the relative water content of citrus root and leaves. In sugarcane, Al significantly reduced nutrient use efficiency of macro and micronutrients (Borges et al, 2020). Additionally, P deficiency is a major concern in acidic soils as Al has a high affinity to P and forms insoluble Al-P compounds in soils (Magalhaes et al, 2018).…”

“…Over the past decades, several studies have demonstrated the effect of Al on growth and productivity in several plant species (Kochian et al, 2015;Sade et al, 2016;Bojo ́rquez-Quintal et al, 2017;Singh et al, 2017). Generally, most of these studies reported the toxic effects of Al and the tolerance mechanisms of plants (Awasthi et al, 2019;Borges et al, 2020;Fang et al, 2020), while a few reported beneficial effects on plant growth (Muhammad et al, 2019;Sun et al, 2020b). In recent years, significant genetic diversities in Al tolerance and novel sustainable strategies have been identified in several crop species due to the agronomic importance of crop cultivation on acid soils (Kochian et al, 2015).…”