As most agronomists and soil scientists know, Al and As are considered toxic to nearly all crops. Yet, at very low concentrations (part per billion in soil solution) could these two elements stimulate/enhance plant growth? That is of a hormesis phenomenon.
There are some arsenic tolerance plant species (hyperaccumulator- Pteris vittata, Pityrogramma calomelanos) whose growth were enhanced when exposed to at an elevated concentration of arsenic (Xu et al. 2014). In Brazil, experiments with seedlings of savanna tree species Anadenanthera peregrina showed a strong negative influence of As on the growth but the authors also found that the internal As-toxicity critical levels were high, indicating some tissue tolerance of A. peregrina (Gomes et al. 2012). In China, it was found that when soil As concentration was less than 60 mg/kg, both wheat and rape grown satisfactorily without adverse effects (Liu et al. 2012). In case of Bangladesh, arsenic level in common food plants in contaminated vs uncontaminated areas showed a marked difference but still it appears that plants are growing in As contaminated areas though it requires more research to assess the exact tolerance limits by plants (Kibria 2013).
References
Xu JY, Li HB, Liang S, Luo J, Ma LQ.2014. Arsenic enhanced plant growth and altered rhizosphere characteristics of hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata.Environ Pollut. 194C:105-111. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2014.07.017.
Marcelo Pedrosa Gomes,Daniela Moreira Duarte, Pedro Luiz Silva Miranda, Leilane Carvalho Barreto, Miele Tallon Matheus and Queila Souza Garcia. 2012. The effects of arsenic on the growth and nutritional status of Anadenanthera peregrina, a Brazilian savanna tree Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science. 175 (3): 466–473
Q.J. Liu, C.M. Zheng, C.X. Hu, Q.L. Tan, X.C. Sun, J.J. Su. 2012. Effects of high concentrations of soil arsenic on the growth of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L) and rape (Brassica napus). Plant Spil Environ. 58 : 22–27
Kibria, G. 2013. Global Groundwater Arsenic Contamination: Impacts on Agriculture, Human Health and Social Life. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263519682_Global_Groundwater_Arsenic_Contamination_Impacts_on_Agriculture_Human_Health_and_Social_Life-_A_Short_Review?ev=prf_pub
Chapter Global Groundwater Arsenic Contamination: Impacts on Agricul...
Dear Golam:
Thank you for the info. These references are good for work on As plant hyperaccumulators.
However, the question about beneficial effects of Al and As at very low doses remain unclear to me.
Thanks, NVH
Dear Nyuyen,
Perhaps it will be essential to carryout out some lab or field based experiments to establish the beneficial effects of As to plants at very low concentration?
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