| Under acid soil conditions, solubility of aluminum (Al) increases leading to toxicity for plants. Al accumulator species such as tea, however, accumulate high levels of Al in tissues without toxicity symptoms. In this work, Al localization and compartmentation were studied in tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze] grown hydroponically at 0 or 100 µM Al for eight weeks. Plant dry matter production was significantly higher in the presence of Al and accumulated up to 1.21 and 6.18 mg Al/g DW in the leaves and roots, respectively. About 40-50% of Al was partitioned into cell wall (CW)-bound fraction without any difference among leaves of different age and roots. A significant increase of the soluble phenolics fraction by Al was observed in both leaves and... |
