The effect of calcium on F uptake by tea plantsIn the present experiments, adding Ca to the soil or uptake solution signi®cantly decreased F uptake. Precipitation of F with Ca in solution and/or the complexing of Ca±F in the roots have been suggested as reasons for decreased uptake of F by Ca (Arnesen, 1997; Stevens et al., 1998a). However, analysis using GEOCHEM-PC (Parker et al., 1995) showed that, under the conditions of expt 3, the precipitation of F with Ca was minimal and had no signi®cant effect on the activity of F± in the uptake solution. Therefore, precipitation of F with Ca in solution does not appear to be suf®cient explanation for the reported observations. Experimental results suggest that F uptake by plants is a passive process through an extra-cellular pathway by leaking past either the endodermal barrier at the root tips or the endodermis where lateral roots formed (Takmaz-Nisancioglu and Davison, 1988; Stevens et al., 1998a). This process possibly also occurs in tea plants (Ruan et al., 2003). Calcium is important for the stabilization of cell walls and membranes (Marschner, 1995). The reduced F uptake by tea plants was possibly related to a decreased passage of F as the properties of the cell wall or membrane permeability were altered considerably by Ca addition. This might have played a role in expt 3 in which a low Ca concentration (12´5 mmol L±1) effectively decreased leaf F concentration compared with when virtually no Ca was present in the uptake solution. Denying roots a supply of Ca might have disturbed the properties of cell walls and membranes even during the short uptake period (22 h in expt 3). Conversely, results from expts 1 and 3 and previous work (Ruan et al., 2003) showed that most F taken up by tea plants was transported to the above-ground organs, in particular the leaves, within a relatively short uptake time. It has also been proposed that F translocation in the xylem from root to shoot is inhibited by precipitation with Ca in the roots, and that Ca increases the retention of F and lessens its rate of transport in the transpiration stream
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