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Minor Element Studies with Soybeans: I. Varietal Reaction to Concentrations of Zinc in Excess of the Nutritional Requirement 1
Author(s) -
Earley E. B.
Publication year - 1943
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1943.00021962003500120003x
Subject(s) - forage , agriculture , agricultural experiment station , agricultural science , citation , minor (academic) , library science , agricultural economics , political science , agronomy , mathematics , geography , environmental science , computer science , economics , archaeology , biology , law
HERE is usually considerable variation among plant varieties T of a given species in reaction to temperature (6, 8, IO, 15),~ drought ( 5 , 16), disease (I, 9, IS), insects (3, 12, 13, 17), etc. It is likewise known that plant varieties react differently in the absorption and metabolism of at least some of the chemical elements. Such varietal differences have been noted by Anderson and Ayre (2), Burkholder and McVeigh (4), and Hoener and DeTurk (11) for nitrogen; by DeTurk, et al. ( 7 ) , Lyness (14), and Smith (18) for phosphorus; by Weiss (20) for iron, and by Allen4 for several of the major elements. Yamasaki (21) observed the differential behavior of rice and wheat varieties to copper sulfate, sodium arsenate, zinc chloride, mercuric chloride, potassium dichromate, potassium cyanide, potassium perchlorate, potassium iodate, potassium bromate, and potassium and sodium chlorate. From his experiments, he concluded that definite varietal distinctions existed only with respect to the chlorates and that the basis for this distinction is the differential ability of the plants to reduce the nontoxic chlorate ions to the toxic hypochlorite ions. With reference to the effect of the other chemicals tested for varietal reaction, Yamasaki (21) stated that, “All of the salts tested other than the chlorates, KClO, and NaClO,, injured the seedlings very seriously as a whole but never showed the varietal distinctions as observed in relation to KClO,.” This statement is believed by the writer to be unjustified on the basis that Yamasaki correlated the results of an experimentally determined concentration of KClO, (0.2’37,) with those from an equal concentration of ZnC12, and concluded therefrom that the latter was incapable of inducing varietal distinction. Had he experimented as thoroughly with different concentrations of the other salts as he did with the chlorates, he probably would have discovered that varietal distinction to direct toxicants5 is a matter of salt concentration rather than salt specificity. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to’ call attention to the