Mobilization of aluminium and magnesium by roots of banana (Musa spp.) from kaolinite and smectite clay minerals

Banana plants (Musa spp.) are very sensitive to Al, which is mobilized in acid soil conditions. These plants may, however, contribute to their own intoxication because their roots can excrete protons in large quantities. The authors studied the mobilization of Al by banana roots from clay minerals in experimental designs exacerbating the root–mineral contact. The plants were grown on agarose-gel or sand substrates previously mixed with smectite (montmorillonite) and kaolinite as sole source of Al. The pH and the ion concentrations in the aqueous and exchangeable phases of the substrates were determined as concentrations of Al, Ca, Mg and K in plants. In both agarose and sand substrates, pH significantly decreased in the close vicinity of roots, relative to the bulk substrate. This root-induced acidification involved a preferential mobilization of Al in kaolinite substrates and of Mg in smectite substrates, and thereby a significant plant uptake of Al and Mg from these respective substrates. Root-induced weathering of kaolinite and montmorillonite thus suggests that the mobilization of, respectively, Al and Mg are the limiting steps in the dissolution of these respective minerals, just as demonstrated in previous chemical weathering studies.