ANN-MARI FRANSSON · Minimizing environmental pollution and enhancing soil sustainability through the use of p efficient crop plants

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Project objective

The contribution of terrestrially-derived sources of N and P to the nutrient content of surface and ground-waters is increasing annually across Europe resulting in wide scale pollution incidents (e.g. eutrophication). The blame for many of these P driven eutrophication events has been firmly placed on agriculture (Powlson, 1998). The general rise in freshwater nutrient loads has been primarily attributed to the long-term application of fertilizers and additions of p minerals to livestock rations. The effect of this surplus has been to increase the total amount and availability of P in agricultural soils. Until recently, this has been considered highly beneficial, however, this large surplus of soil P is now acting like a slow release pollution time bomb. To prevent continued pollution therefore requires intervention strategies such as (1) a reduction in, understanding of, and optimization of P applications to agricultural land, and (2) a more efficient use of native soil P by crops. The key aim of the proposal will be to focus on critically assessing the efficiency of previously hypothesized, but untested, plant mechanisms for enhancing soil P uptake. We will use cultivars of wheat with known differences in phosphatase and organic acid excretion. These will be grown under high and low soil P conditions and the levels of organic acids and phoshates in the soil determined by micro sample-capillary electrophoresis and micro sample-fluorimetry. We will also patch label soil with inorganic K233PO4 or organic P (33P labeled dead roots) and artificially raise phosphatase and organic acid levels through direct injection of citrate, oxalate, malate, and acid and alkaline phosphatases. Plant 33P uptake will then be assessed over time and the critical phosphatase and organic acid concentrations required to mobilize P determined. We will also characterize the reaction of the organic acids and phosphatases to enable further parameterization of the mechanistic computer model fiRHIZOP. The host institution has great experience in rhizosphere ecology and have novel techniques for this purpose, I contribute with expertise in P biogoechemistry."

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Participants

• UNIVERSITY OF WALES - BANGOR · BANGOR (GWYNEDD)CoordinatorUnited Kingdom

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