Specific Chloride Injury in Persea americana
1970
Fenn, L. B. | Oertli, J. J. | Bingham, F. T.
The mode of chloride injury in avocado plants (Persea americana) was studied at variable Cl levels. The experiment revealed that when leaf burn occurred, it was associated with abnormally high content in total and leachable salt in the leaves. The substantial leachable fraction presumably represents high concentrations of extracellular salt, which accumulates in tips and margins of the leaves after termination of a vigorous growth. In avocado trees, the salt that builds up at the higher substrate Cl levels is associated with what appears to be a mass flow salt movement into conductive tissues causing, possibly, greater salt transport to the leaves than can ultimately be absorbed by leaf cells. The extracellular salt concentrations break down the gradients of osmotic pressure that are necessary to maintain turgor pressure, leading to characteristic tip and marginal necrosis associated with excessive accumulations of Cl. Growth reduction is probably due to energy spent in excessive salt accumulation and loss of photosynthetic area.
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