What is the Difference Between Trace and Tracer Elements

The key difference between trace and tracer elements is that the trace elements are micronutrients required by plants in minute quantity for plant nutrition, whereas the tracer elements are radioisotopes of elements that are useful for plants for tracing the path of a metabolic reaction.

Trace elements are chemical elements required by plants in minute quantities. These are different from tracer elements. Generally, a tracer element is a radioactive chemical element that is important in marking the material of study.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Trace Elements
3. What are Tracer Elements
4. Similarities – Trace and Tracer Elements
5. Trace vs Tracer Elements in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Trace vs Tracer Elements

What are Trace Elements?

Trace elements are micronutrients plants need in minute quantity for their nutrition. The most common trace elements that plants need are copper, zinc, boron, manganese, and molybdenum. However, these trace elements may differ from one plant species to another. Moreover, animals need some trace elements such as manganese, iodine, and cobalt. Some of these trace elements are important for plants to provide essential components of the building of different proteins, hormones, and some other processes.

The importance of trace elements to plants includes the followings:

Development of different enzymes and hormones
Promotion of photosynthesis
Improvement of fertility and cell extension
Development of leaf green and strength of cell membranes

When using commercially available trace elements for plants, we can use them to alleviate trace element deficiency symptoms. In this application, we can spray the trace element solution to lightly wet the leaves before the runoff. However, it should not be used for stone fruit.

What are Tracer Elements?

Tracer elements are radioisotopes of elements that are useful for plants for tracing the path of a metabolic reaction. These elements are required by plants in minute quantities, usually less than 0.1 gm/mg of the dry weight of the plant.

An isotopic tracer is any radioactive atom that is detectable in a material in a chemical, biological, or physical system, and we can use these elements to mark the material of study that makes it easy to observe the progress of the material through the system or to determine the distribution of the material of study. Some examples of this type of radioisotopes include antimony-124, bromine-82, iodine-125, iodine-131, iridium-192, and scandium-46.

What are the Similarities Between Trace and Tracer Elements?

Trace elements and tracer elements are important chemical components in plant biology.
Plants need both trace and tracer elements in small quantities.

What is the Difference Between Trace and Tracer Elements?

The key difference between trace and tracer elements is that the trace elements are micronutrients required by plants in minute quantity for plant nutrition, whereas the tracer elements are radioisotopes of elements that are useful for plants for tracing the path of a metabolic reaction. Copper, zinc, boron, manganese, and molybdenum are examples of trace elements while antimony-124, bromine-82, iodine-125, iodine-131, iridium-192, and scandium-46 are examples of tracer elements.

The below infographic presents the differences between trace and tracer elements in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Trace vs Tracer Elements

Trace elements are chemical elements required by plants in minute quantities, while tracer elements are radioactive chemical elements important in marking the material of study. The key difference between trace and tracer elements is that the trace elements are micronutrients required by plants in minute quantity for plant nutrition, whereas the tracer elements are radioisotopes of elements that are useful for plants for tracing the path of a metabolic reaction.