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Molybdenum Role and Deficiency
Molybdenum is absorbed as HMoO4 ion. The availability of Molybdenum is increased as pH increases. Molybdenum is essential for the enzyme nitrate reductase, which reduces nitrate to ammonium ions in the plant. Without this enzyme function, nitrates would be a worthless nitrogen sources to plants. Molybdenum is also required by the enzyme nitrogenase in legume nodules, which is necessary in the nitrogen fixing process. Deficiency of molybdenum is similar to nitrogen deficiency, with interveinal chlorosis of older leaves, however, the leaf margins rapidly brown and become necrotic as nitrate accumulates. It also causes whiptail in mustard family crops such as beets. Deficiencies can be verified by treating seed in a test strip with a sodium molybdate material. There have been no reports of molybdenum deficiencies in North Dakota, probably because soil levels are high due to the high levels of molybenum in shale derived sediments like those that make up North Dakota soils.
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