Copper bioavailability and rhizosphere pH changes as affected by nitrogen supply for tomato and oilseed rape cropped on an acidic and a calcareous soil

Vineyard soils have been contaminated by long-term applications of copper salts as fungicides against mildew, raising the question of the bioavailability (and toxicity) of such accumulated Cu to cultivated plants which can replace vines. The aim of this study was to assess, in an acidic and a calcareous Cu-contaminated soil, how the extractability and bioavailability of soil Cu was affected by pH changes in the rhizosphere of two plant species (oilseed rape and tomato), in response to various forms of nitrogen supply (nitrate only or both nitrate and ammonium). Besides shoot analysis, the experimental approach used in the present work provided an easy access to both roots and rhizosphere soil. Roots of tomato and rape induced a systematic acidification in the calcareous soil while root-induced alkalinization occurred in the acidic soil. Whilst few differences were found between treatments in the calcareous soil, oilseed rape took up more Cu and also alkalinized its rhizosphere more strongly than tomato in the acidic soil. The growth of tomato roots was restricted in the acidic soil, while that of oilseed rape was not, suggesting that tomato was either more sensitive to soil acidity and/or Cu toxicity. A major finding was that, in the acidic soil, Cu bioavailability increased with increasing rhizosphere pH. This was largely due to the enhanced accumulation of Cu in the root compartment of both species with increasing rhizosphere pH. The hypothetical explanation proposed here is that Cu binding to root cell walls played a major role in the accumulation of Cu into the plant. Apoplasmic Cu (Cu bound to cell walls) would indeed be expected to increase with increasing pH as a consequence of the pH-dependency of the charges of cell wall constituents.