Nitrogen uptake in wheat as influenced by the presence of nickel

Abstract

Presence of Ni may influence the absorption and utilization of N by plants. A screen‐house experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of N concentrations (0, 30, 60, and 120 mg N kg‐1 soil) as influenced by Ni concentrations (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, and 20 mg Ni kg‐1 soil) on dry matter (DM) of wheat and tissue concentration and uptake of N and Ni. Application of N to soil increased the DM yield of wheat and concentration and uptake of N significantly (P ≤ 0.01) at all concentrations of Ni. The values of these parameters increased significantly (P ≤ 0.01) with the added Ni up to 10 mg kg‐1 soil but decreased with the further application of Ni to soil. The magnitude of the increase or decrease in these parameters was higher in the presence than in the absence of applied N. Nickel concentration in wheat tissue and uptake of Ni by wheat plants increased markedly (P ≤ 0.07) with the increasing concentrations of Ni in soil. A low amount of Ni was required for N absorption in plants as evidenced by the incr...