Nickel, Iron, and Manganese in the Metabolism of the Oat Plant

Abstract

THE first definite report of a toxicity induced in plants by a localized high concentration of nickel appears to be that of Hunter and Vergnano¹, while 2 years later² Hunter described the occurrence of an identical condition on what was apparently similar terrain in Southern Rhodesia, namely a poorly drained upland region with outcropping serpentine. An investigation of disease symptoms which appeared in an oat crop growing on just such an area at Wallendbeen, southern New South Wales, in 1960 was attributed to the high incidence of available nickel in the soil. This was substantiated by analysis of the affected plants, which occurred in large patches in the field, and also of soil from both affected and unaffected areas. A further series of sand culture experiments established that nickel, and to a lesser extent cobalt, was capable of reproducing the symptoms in oat plants. The analysis of soil and minerals removed from both outcrops and subsoil indicated that nickel alone was responsible for the condition of the crop, however; the level of cobalt in both soil and affected plants was little different from that in material from unaffected areas.