Mineral nutrition of micropropagated plants
type: CreativeWork
description: Aspects of the mineral nutrition of plants in in vitro cultures were studied in Delphinium 'Princess Caroline' and Hosta 'Fladspen Blue', two species with contrasting growth habits. Initially methods for accurately measuring mineral concentrations within gelled culture media using atomic absorption spectrophotometry were developed and verified. The effects of light, EDTA, phosphate and agar concentration on mineral availability were studied. Substantial quantities of mineral impurities are introduced by the inclusion of agar and sucrose in culture media and significant precipitation was shown to occur within culture media and to be mediated by the absolute phosphate concentration of the medium. The chelating agent EDTA was most beneficial to growth when used in an equimolar ratio with iron. Rates of mineral diffusion in agar-gelled media were measured for a range of gel strengths. It was shown that the diffusion of phosphate was inhibited more than that of other minerals and also that the restriction of diffusion was dependant on the concentration of agar used. The common antagonistic interaction between potassium and magnesium was found not to occur in Murashige and Skoog medium, possibly because of the different structure of an agar-gelled medium compared with that of a typical soil. Plant growth and the associated depletion of medium mineral reserves were studied over extended culture periods and showed a rapid depletion of phosphate from the culture medium, a low rate of iron uptake in both species and low tissue phosphate concentrations. Medium pH was significantly affected by the plants and a possible link between medium pH and the relative uptake of nitrate and ammonium was investigated. The rapid initial pH changes in Delphinium cultures were shown not to be the result of differential nitrate and ammonium uptake rates though pH shifts in the culture medium were reflective of the relative supply and uptake of ammonium and nitrate in Hosta cultures. The growth…
abstract: Aspects of the mineral nutrition of plants in in vitro cultures were studied in Delphinium 'Princess Caroline' and Hosta 'Fladspen Blue', two species with contrasting growth habits. Initially methods for accurately measuring mineral concentrations within gelled culture media using atomic absorption spectrophotometry were developed and verified. The effects of light, EDTA, phosphate and agar concentration on mineral availability were studied. Substantial quantities of mineral impurities are introduced by the inclusion of agar and sucrose in culture media and significant precipitation was shown to occur within culture media and to be mediated by the absolute phosphate concentration of the medium. The chelating agent EDTA was most beneficial to growth when used in an equimolar ratio with iron. Rates of mineral diffusion in agar-gelled media were measured for a range of gel strengths. It was shown that the diffusion of phosphate was inhibited more than that of other minerals and also that the restriction of diffusion was dependant on the concentration of agar used. The common antagonistic interaction between potassium and magnesium was found not to occur in Murashige and Skoog medium, possibly because of the different structure of an agar-gelled medium compared with that of a typical soil. Plant growth and the associated depletion of medium mineral reserves were studied over extended culture periods and showed a rapid depletion of phosphate from the culture medium, a low rate of iron uptake in both species and low tissue phosphate concentrations. Medium pH was significantly affected by the plants and a possible link between medium pH and the relative uptake of nitrate and ammonium was investigated. The rapid initial pH changes in Delphinium cultures were shown not to be the result of differential nitrate and ammonium uptake rates though pH shifts in the culture medium were reflective of the relative supply and uptake of ammonium and nitrate in Hosta cultures. The growth…
author: Murphy, Kenneth P.
language: en
keywords: C110 - Applied biology
date published: 1997-07
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:36:10Z
provider: University of Central Lancashire
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Central Lancashire