The uptake and distribution of copper in perennial ryegrass and white clover grown in flowing solution culture with a controlled supply of copper

Abstract

AbstractThe uptake and distribution of copper was examined in perennial ryegrass and white clover when these were grown in flowing solution culture with a controlled supply of copper at 0.025 mg litre−1 (0.4 μM). Although the concentration of copper in the shoots of white clover was greater than that in those of ryegrass, there was no difference between the two species in (i) absorption per unit of root or (ii) the transport of copper from roots to shoots. Differences in the growth patterns of the two plants may be responsible for differences in copper concentration in their dry matter. The proportion of the shoot's copper that was associated with cell walls fell, during growth over 33 days, from 23 to 12% in ryegrass and from 35 to 7% in white clover. There was some indication that terminating the supply of phosphate to the plants (which did not affect absorption by roots or transport to shoots) may have increased the degree of association of copper with the cell walls of the shoots.