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V-ATPase and V-PPase at the Tonoplast Affect NO3 − Content in Brassica napus by Controlling Distribution of NO3 − Between the Cytoplasm and Vacuole

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Abstract

Nitrate, once taken up by plants, can either be stored in vacuoles or reduced by nitrate reductase in the cytoplasm. High accumulation of NO3 − in the vacuole occurs when assimilation into the cytoplasm is saturated. This study elucidates how proton pumps at the tonoplast (V-ATPase and V-PPase) affect the NO3 − content of Brassica napus by controlling the distribution of NO3 − between the cytoplasm and vacuole. Pot experiments were conducted in a greenhouse under normal N (15.0 mM nitrate) conditions using B. napus genotypes that demonstrated either high (Xiangyou15) or low (814) nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). The NO3 − content of the high NUE genotype was significantly lower than that of the low NUE genotype, whereas the total N per plant of the two genotypes was almost the same, suggesting that the different NUE between the two genotypes is not due to the difference of NO3 − uptake. The relative expression levels of V-ATPase (vha-a3) and V-PPase (avp1) genes in the high NUE genotype were significantly lower than in the low NUE genotype, resulting in lower V-ATPase and V-PPase activities in the high NUE genotype. The transport of NO3 − and protons from the cytoplasm to the vacuole is powered by V-ATPase and V-PPase, so their lower activities increase H+ efflux from and reduce NO3 − influx into the vacuoles of the high NUE genotype. We conclude that the lower activity of proton pumps at the tonoplast is the main reason the high NUE genotype possesses lower NO3 − content and higher N-use efficiency.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos. 31101596 and 31372130), Talent Scholar of Hunan Agricultural University (11YJ21) P. R. China. FuRong Scholar Program of Hunan Province, P. R. China, The “Twelfth Five-Year” National Science and technology support program (2012BAD15BO4). Open project of National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics. Open novel science foundation of Hunan province (13K062). We thank Tanya Streeter and Juanita Johns from the University of West Florida, United States of America for proofreading drafts of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources and Environment Sciences, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, Hunan, People’s Republic of China

    Yongliang Han, Qiang Liu, Jidong Gu, Xiangmin Rong, Haixing Song & Zhenhua Zhang

  2. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

    Jidong Gu

  3. Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 Fenglin Road, Shanghai, 200032, China

    Jiming Gong

  4. National Center of Oilseed Crops Improvement, Hunan Branch, Changsha, 410128, Hunan, People’s Republic of China

    Chunyun Guan

  5. Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL, 32514, USA

    Joe Eugene Lepo

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  1. Yongliang Han
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Correspondence to Haixing Song or Zhenhua Zhang.

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Han, Y., Liu, Q., Gu, J. et al. V-ATPase and V-PPase at the Tonoplast Affect NO3 − Content in Brassica napus by Controlling Distribution of NO3 − Between the Cytoplasm and Vacuole. J Plant Growth Regul 34, 22–34 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-014-9439-8

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