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Environmental and Stress Physiology

Errors in the Measurement of Root Pressure and Exudation Volume Flow Rate Caused by Damage during the Transfer of Unsupported Roots between Solutions

Agriculture Canada, Research Centre, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7

Plants of Zea mays were grown with their roots confined to growing tubes, consisting of cylindrical or spherical glass tubes fitted at the bottom with a stopcock. Nutrient solution was circulated past the roots, and when a plant was 21 to 25 days old, the stopcock was closed, the root excised from the plant and connected to an apparatus which measured root pressure and exudation volume flow rate. The stopcock was opened and solution was again circulated through the growing tube without dropping the level of the liquid bathing the root in the process. Measurements of pressure and flow rate were made continuously during a period in which the solution was replaced, first by draining and refilling the tube in situ, and second by replacing the growing tube with a beaker of solution. Both these manipulations caused at least temporary and frequently permanent drops in root pressure and flow rate. Plants were also grown in cylindrical tubes with a support medium of either glass beads or Raschig rings which filled the growing tubes. It is shown that the solution bathing these roots could be repeatedly replaced by draining and refilling with no visible effect on the measurements. It is recommended, therefore, that in future, support be provided for the roots of all experimental plants grown by solution culture.