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. 1972 May;49(5):794–797. doi: 10.1104/pp.49.5.794

The Requirement for Sodium as a Micronutrient by Species Having the C4 Dicarboxylic Photosynthetic Pathway

P F Brownell a, C J Crossland a
PMCID: PMC366054  PMID: 16658050

Abstract

Six species having characteristics of plants with the C4 dicarboxylic photosynthetic pathway, Echinochloa utilis L. Ohwi et Yabuno (Japanese millet), Cynodon dactylon L. (Bermuda grass), Kyllinga brevifolia Rottb., Amaranthus tricolor L. cv. Early splendour, Kochia childsii Hort., and Portulaca grandiflora Hook (rose moss), responded decisively to 0.1 milliequivalent per liter NaCl supplied to their culture solutions initially containing less than 0.08 microequivalent per liter Na. Chlorosis and necrosis occurred in leaves of plants not receiving sodium. Portulaca failed to set flower in the sodium-deficient cultures. Under similar conditions Poa pratensis L. (Kentucky blue grass) having characteristics of the C3 photosynthetic pathway made normal growth and did not respond to the addition of sodium. It is concluded from these results and previously reported work that sodium is generally essential for species having the C4 pathway but not for species with the C3 pathway.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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