Monitoring uptake and contents of Mg, Ca and K in Norway spruce as influenced by pH and Al, using microprobe analysis and stable isotope labelling

• DOI: 10.1007/bf00029322
• Publication Date: 2006-05-17T09:43:31Z
• Authors: A. J. Kuhn; J. Bauch; W. H. Schröder
• Keywords: Isotopes of calcium

In a model system using intact spruce trees (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) we followed the path of magnesium, calcium and potassium during uptake into the root and during long-range transport into the shoot, by multiple stable isotope labelling. The roots of two- and three-year-old spruce trees originating from soil culture were removed from the soil and, in part or in toto, exposed to labelling solutions containing the stable isotopes 25Mg or 26Mg, 41K and 42Ca or 44Ca Optical-emission-spectroscopy (ICP-OES) of plant fractions and labelling solutions was combined with the quantitative analysis of stable isotope ratios in sections of shock frozen, cryosubstituted material using the laser-microprobe-mass-analyser (LAMMA). This combination allowed us to distinguish, both in bulk samples and on the cellular level between (i) the fraction of elements originally present in the plant before the start of the labelling, (ii) the material taken up from the labelling solution into the plant and (iii) any material released by the plant into the labelling solution.