journal article
LitStream Collection
Home
HARPER, DAVID B.; HARVEY, BARBARA M. R.; JEFFERS, MAURICE R.; KENNEDY, JAMES T.
doi: 10.1046/j.1469-8137.1999.00382.xpmid: N/A
CH3Cl emissions by freshly harvested tubers of 61 potato cultivars ranged from less than 4 to 650 ng g−1 f. wt d−1. In experiments with Anna, the cultivar displaying the highest release rate, maximum emission of CH3Cl occurred at 20°C but the rate diminished after 48 h, a decrease due in part to inhibition of CH3Cl release by the accumulation of CH3Cl in the headspace. In 1995 and 1996, CH3Cl emission by tubers was first detectable 6 wk before the normal harvest date. If tubers were stored at 20°C immediately following harvest, release attained a maximum of 350 ng g−1 f. wt d−1 about 4 d after harvest, falling to less than 4 ng g−1 f. wt d−1 within 3 wk of harvest. On storage at 6°C post‐harvest, maximum release of CH3Cl (c. 600 ng g−1) was delayed until 5 wk after harvest and release fell below 4 ng g−1 f. wt d−1 after 200 d. Release of CH3Cl was not significantly affected by cutting or bruising tuber tissue, and CH3Cl biosynthesis occurred in both core and superficial tissues of the tuber. The S‐methyl group of either L‐ or D‐methionine acted as a precursor of CH3Cl in sliced tubers, but the methylating system was specific for Cl−. An isotope dilution technique using C2H3Cl demonstrated that the amount of CH3Cl metabolized by the intact tuber was approximately 36% of the net release. However, investigations with 14CH3Cl showed that only a small proportion (7%) of the CH3Cl metabolized was fixed in involatile form in the tuber. In both skin and core tissues, fixed 14C was located primarily (80%) in the fraction soluble in phosphate buffer, but the specific activity of skin tissue was about twice that of core tissue. Autoradiography demonstrated that 14C fixation in the tuber was greatest within the lenticels, possibly indicating a microflora adapted to use the locally high concentrations of CH3Cl. Significant 14C fixation was also associated with the periderm but was not attributable to labelling of the O‐methyl groups of the phenolic components of suberin. Within the core of the tuber, 14C fixation was located primarily in the phloem, pith and medullary rays.
BASHOR, CALEB J.; DALTON, DAVID A.
doi: 10.1046/j.1469-8137.1999.00370.xpmid: N/A
Numerous biochemical and physiological studies have demonstrated the importance of ascorbate (ASC) as a reducing agent and antioxidant in higher plant metabolism. Of special note is the capacity of ASC to eliminate damaging activated oxygen species (AOS) including O2−· and H2O2. N2‐fixing legume nodules are especially vulnerable to oxidative damage because they contain large amounts of leghaemoglobin which produces AOS through spontaneous autoxidation; thus, ASC and other components of the ascorbate–reduced glutathione (ASC–GSH) pathway are critical antioxidants in nodules. In order to establish a meaningful correlation between concentrations of ASC and capacity for N2 fixation in legume root nodules, soybean (Glycine max) plants were treated with excess ASC via exogenous irrigation or continuous intravascular infusion through needles inserted directly into plant stems. Treatment with ASC led to striking increases in nitrogenase activity (acetylene reduction), nodule leghaemoglobin content, and activity of ASC peroxidase, a key antioxidant enzyme. The concentration of lipid peroxides, which are indicators of oxidative damage and onset of senescence, was decreased in ASC‐treated nodules. These results support the conclusion that ASC is critical for N2 fixation and that elevated ASC allows nodules to maintain a greater capacity to fix N2 over longer periods.
WITT, FEDERICO G.; STÖHR, CHRISTINE; ULLRICH, WOLFRAM R.
doi: 10.1046/j.1469-8137.1999.00380.xpmid: N/A
An improved method of cell fractionation allowed the extraction of soluble (sNR) and membrane‐associated (mNR) forms of nitrate reductase (NR) from a dinoflagellate, even though in previous studies only mNR had been found in these algae. Both activities were assayed in cell‐free extracts of Peridinium gatunense from Lake Kinneret, Israel, after disruption of the cells and differential centrifugation. In the cultures used, sNR showed much higher NO3−‐reducing activity. Only a low proportion, 2.5–3% of NR activity, was found to be associated with mNR. Moreover, mNR comprised two forms as indicated by protein solubilization: a tightly membrane‐bound and a more weakly attached NR. Ascorbate inhibited all NR activities, but that of mNR recovered after its removal. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and DTT also diminished sNR and mNR activities. For both enzymes, pH optima (7.65) and temperature optima (13–25°C) were similar, and agreed with those for optimum growth of P. gatunense both in culture and in the lake. The most efficient electron donor was NADH, though NADPH sustained low NR activities. Carboxylic anions such as succinate and malate did not support any reduction of NO3−, nor did they cause any stimulation of sNR or mNR activities. Both forms of NR showed a high affinity for their substrates: Km was c. 10 μM for NO3− and c. 5 μM for NADH. The high efficiency of NO3− assimilation by Peridinium seems to be limited mainly by energy under otherwise optimal nutritional conditions and, at low nitrate concentrations, the low Km may be one of the main reasons for the high competitivity of this alga in Lake Kinneret.
BROOKER, R. W.; CALLAGHAN, T. V.; JONASSON, S.
doi: 10.1046/j.1469-8137.1999.00384.xpmid: N/A
Studies on the rhizomatous clonal sedge Carex bigelowii, at a fellfield site in subarctic Swedish Lapland examined the ecological potential of rhizomes as nitrogen uptake systems. Direct application of a solution of 15NH415NO3 to the rhizomes of C. bigelowii significantly enriched the 15N content of the plant tissue. The pattern of enrichment indicated movement of labelled nitrogen into rhizomes and adjoining tissue (including roots and shoots), showing both uptake and translocation via the rhizome system. There was a gradient of decreasing 15N enrichment with increasing distance from the point of labelling, and estimation of the total mass of nitrogen taken up via labelled rhizomes showed low levels and rates of uptake. Quantification of the size of rhizome and root systems of C. bigelowii at the study site indicates that 80% of the living biomass may be below ground, and that the surface area of the rhizome system of C. bigelowii is approx. two‐thirds that of the roots. The rhizome system of C. bigelowii can therefore act as a route for nitrogen uptake, with the potential to exploit almost as great a volume of soil as the root system. This mechanism of nitrogen uptake may play an important role in the Arctic, where many species have a clonal, rhizomatous growth form. In addition, plant growth in many arctic ecosystems is limited by low soil nutrient availability, a result of low temperatures (leading to slow soil decomposition rates) and patchy resource distribution. Nitrogen uptake via rhizomes may provide plants with the capacity to take advantage of transient nutrient supplies, and may partly compensate for the cost of developing and maintaining persistent rhizome networks in ecosystems where nutrient resources are in short supply.
KASKA, D. D.; MYLLYLÄ, R.; COOPER, J. B.
doi: 10.1046/j.1469-8137.1999.00379.xpmid: N/A
Many soil fungi colonize the roots of pines to form symbiotic organs known as ectomycorrhizas. Dichotomous branching of short lateral roots and the formation of coralloid organs are diagnostic of ectomycorrhizas in many pine species, although the regulation of these changes in root morphology is not well understood. We used axenic root cultures of six pine species to examine the role of auxin, cytokinin, ethylene and nutrients in the regulation of root architecture. Surprisingly, extensive dichotomous and coralloid branching of lateral roots occurred spontaneously in Pinus taeda, P. halepensis and P. muricata. In P. sylvestris, P. ponderosa and P. nigra, treatment with auxin transport inhibitors (ATIs), the ethylene precursor 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylic acid (ACC) or the ethylene‐releasing compound 2‐chloroethylphosphonic acid (CEPA or ethephon) induced extensive dichotomous branching and coralloid organ formation. Formation of both spontaneous and ATI‐induced coralloid structures was blocked by treatment with an ethylene synthesis inhibitor L‐α‐(2‐aminoethoxyvinyl)glycine; this inhibition was reversed by either ACC or CEPA. In addition, the induction of this unique morphogenetic pattern in pine root cultures was regulated by nutrient levels. The morphology and anatomical organization of the chemically induced dichotomous and coralloid structures, as well as the regulation of their formation by nutrient levels, show a striking similarity to those of ectomycorrhizas.
ANTONSEN, FRANK; JOHNSSON, ANDERS; FUTSAETHER, CECILIA; KRANE, JOSTEIN
doi: 10.1046/j.1469-8137.1999.00369.xpmid: 11543588
Gravitropic responses of oat coleoptiles were measured in different growth media; humid air, natural soil and artificial soil (glass beads). The oat coleoptiles in soil and glass beads were monitored by NMR imaging, while those in humid air were imaged in darkness with an infrared‐sensitive charge‐coupled device (CCD) camera. The present study shows for the first time that gravitropic experiments can be performed in artificial soil using NMR imaging as a convenient and suitable recording method. Not only was it possible to follow the gravitropic curvatures in natural soil, but the artificial soil allowed plant images of sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to be recorded. The advantages of using artificial soil in magnetic resonance imaging studies are that the iron content of glass beads is very low compared with natural soil, and that the artificial soil matrix can easily be standardized with regard to particle size distribution and nutrient content. Two types of glass beads were used, the diameter of the small and the large beads being 300–400 and 420–840 μm, respectively. The growth rate of the coleoptiles in soil and in big beads was roughly the same and only slightly lower than in humid air, whereas small beads reduced the growth rate by approx. 16%. The bending rate of the coleoptiles during the gravitropic response was reduced by c. 65% in soil and 75% in bead mixtures relative to bending in air. It should be noted, however, that the maximum curvature of the coleoptile tip was of the same order in all cases, about 35°. This value may represent the largest possible curvature of the organ. The potential of NMR imaging to study how plant organs penetrate the soil under the influence of gravitropism, mechanical impedance and thigmotropism is also discussed.
SCHELLENBAUM, L.; SPRENGER, N.; SCHÜEPP, H.; WIEMKEN, A.; BOLLER, T.
doi: 10.1046/j.1469-8137.1999.00376.xpmid: N/A
The effects of three conditions likely to affect soluble carbohydrate pools, namely drought, expression of barley sucrose: fructan 6‐fructosyl transferase (6‐SFT, EC 2.4.1.10) and the establishment of the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis with Glomus mosseae were studied in a multifactorial experiment using tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Tobacco, a plant naturally unable to form fructan, accumulated fructan in leaves, and to a larger extent in the roots, when transformed with 6‐SFT. Under drought conditions, growth was considerably reduced, but neither expression of 6‐SFT nor mycorrhiza formation had an effect on growth rate. However, in response to drought, carbon partitioning was significantly altered towards accumulation of soluble sugars. In plants exposed to drought, pools of sucrose were greater than those of unstressed plants, particularly in their roots. In the transgenic plants expressing 6‐SFT, there were also increased contents of the products of 6‐SFT, namely fructan, most probably because of the increased availability of the substrate, sucrose. These effects were the same in the presence or absence of mycorrhiza. Hexoses (glucose and fructose) also increased in response to drought, primarily in the leaves. This effect of drought was little affected by the expression of 6‐SFT, except that it slightly enhanced drought‐induced glucose accumulation in roots. However, the presence of mycorrhiza led to a considerable reduction in drought‐induced accumulation of hexoses in the leaves. The content of the fungal disaccharide trehalose was greatly increased in the roots of all mycorrhizal plants upon exposure to drought, particularly in some of the transgenic plants expressing 6‐SFT.
Showing 1 to 10 of 19 Articles