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Phloem transport of amino acids is differentially altered by phosphorus deficiency according to the nitrogen availability in young barley plants

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Abstract

The phloem transport of amino acids is a key step in the efficient use of nitrogen (N). Despite the importance of this issue, little information is known about the regulation of phloem transport of amino acids in plants with low phosphorus (P) supply and even less in relation to N availability. To this end, we studied not only the assimilate partitioning in young barley plants grown with low N or/and P supply, but also we analyzed the implications of the different isoforms of glutamine synthetase, cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase 2 and several senescence-related proteases. Our results demonstrated that low P supply causes an accumulation of different nitrogenous compounds in expanded leaves depending on N availability and an inhibition of the phloem exudation rate of amino acids only in high-N plants, indicating an interaction between N and P in the establishment of N-partitioning. The accumulation of nitrogenous compounds in leaves of low-P plants without the accompaniment in amino acid export to the phloem was not related to an increase in nitrate assimilation pathway neither with the modulation of glutamine synthetase 1_1 expression, as it had been observed for N availability. But, these results could be explained as a consequence of a delay in the transition from sink to source of leaves, thus keeping the older leaves as sink organs, as indicated by the increase in cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase 2 expression and the repression of several senescence-related proteases in low-P plants with good availability of N.

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Abbreviations

CKs:

Cytokinins

CKX:

Cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase

DW:

Dry weight

GS:

Glutamine synthetase

IPA:

Isopentenyl adenosine

N:

Nitrogen

NR:

Nitrate reductase

P:

Phosphorus

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Universidad de Buenos Aires; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); and Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales (INBA)-CONICET, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Av. San Martín 4453, C1417DSE, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Maria V. Criado, Cintia G. Veliz, Irma N. Roberts & Carla Caputo

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  1. Maria V. Criado
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  2. Cintia G. Veliz
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  3. Irma N. Roberts
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  4. Carla Caputo
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Correspondence to Carla Caputo.

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Criado, M.V., Veliz, C.G., Roberts, I.N. et al. Phloem transport of amino acids is differentially altered by phosphorus deficiency according to the nitrogen availability in young barley plants. Plant Growth Regul 82, 151–160 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-017-0247-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-017-0247-6

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