Abstract: | Short-term (< 12 h) uptake experiments were conducted with67-week-old tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Ky 14)seedlings to determine absorption interactions between K+ andNH4+. At equal solution concentrations (0.5 mol m3) netK+ uptake was inhibited 3035% by NH4+ and NH4+ uptakewas decreased 924%. Removal of NH4+ resulted in completerecovery in K+ uptake rate, but NH4+ uptake rate did not recoverwhen K+ was removed. In both cases, inhibition of the uptakerate of one cation saturated as the concentration of the othercation was increased up to 0.5 mol m3. The relative effectof K+-NH4+ interactions was not altered when Cl- was replacedwith SO42, but the magnitudes of the uptake rates wereless in the absence of Cl-. The Vmax for NH4+ uptake was reducedfrom 128 to 105 µmol g1 dry wt. h1 in thepresence of 0.5 mol m3 K+ and the Km for NH4+ doubledfrom 12 to 27 mmol m3 in the presence of K+. The resultsof these K+-NH4+ experiments are interpreted as mixed-noncompetitiveinteractions. However, an enhanced efflux of K+ coupled to NH4+influx via an antiporter cannot be ruled out as contributingto the decrease in net K+ uptake. Key words: Nicotiana tabacum, K+, NH4+, Uptake interactions |