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Question -

Deficiency symptoms are first studied by means of pot and culture experiments. Rapidly growing plants which develop characteristic symptoms are used in culture experiments. They are called test (= indicator) plants. They are then grown in soil under test in small pots. The results are compared to know the deficiency elements. Similar tests are performed with selected crops.



Answer -

The parts of the plants that show the deficiency symptoms depend on the mobility of the element in the plant. For elements that are actively mobilised within the plants and exported to young developing tissues, the deficiency symptoms tend to appear first in the older tissues. For example, the deficiency symptoms of nitrogen, potassium and magnesium are visible first in the senescent leaves. In older leaves,biomolecules containing these elements are broken down, making these elements available for mobilising to younger leaves. The deficiency symptoms tend to appear first in the young tissues whenever the elements are relatively immobile and are not transported out of the mature organs, for example, elements like sulphur and calcium are a part of the structural component of the cell and hence are not easily released.

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