Abstract
Using13NO −3 -efflux analysis, the induction of nitrate uptake by externally supplied nitrate was monitored in roots of intactPicea glauca (Moench) Voss. seedlings over a 5-d period. In agreement with our earlier studies, efflux analysis revealed three compartments, which have been identified as surface adsorption, apparent free space, and cytoplasm. While induction of nitrate uptake was pronounced, NO −3 fluxes in induced plants were decidedly lower and the induction response was slower than in other species. Influx rose from 0.1 μmol·g−1·h−1 (measured at 100 μM [NO −3 o) in uninduced plants to a maximum of 0.5 μmol·g−1h−1 after 3 d of exposure to 100 μM [NO −3 o and declined to 0.3–0.4 μmol·g−1h−1 at the end of the 5-d period. Efflux remained relatively constant around 0.02-0.04 μmol·g−1h−1, but its percentage with respect to influx declined from initially high values (around 30%) to steady-state values of 4–7%. Cytoplasmic [NO −3 ] ranged from the low micromolar in uninduced plants to a maximum of 2 mM in plants fully induced at 100 μM [NO −3 ]o. In-vivo root nitrate reductase activity (NRA) was measured over the same time period, and was found to follow a similar pattern of induction as influx. The maximum response in NRA slightly preceded that of influx. It increased from 25 nmol·g−1·h−1 without prior exposure to NO −3 to peak values around 150 nmol· g−1h−1 after 2 d of exposure to 100 μM [NO −3 ]o. Subsequently, NRA declined by about 50%. The dynamics of flux partitioning to reduction, to the vacuole, the xylem, and to efflux during the induction process are discussed.
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Abbreviations
- [NO −3 cyt :
-
cytoplasmic NO −3 concentration
- [NO −3 ]free space :
-
NO −3 concentration in the cell wall free space
- [NO −3 ]o :
-
NO −3 concentration in the external solution
- NRA:
-
nitrate reductase activity
- φ:
-
NO −3 flux (for subscripts, seeMaterials and methods)
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The research was supported by an Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada, grant to Dr. A.D.M. Glass and by a University of British Columbia Graduate Fellowship to Herbert J. Kronzucker. Our thanks go to Dr. M. Adam and Mr. P. Culbert at the particle accelerator facility TRIUMF on the University of British Columbia campus for providing13N, to Drs. R.D. Guy and S. Silim for providing plant material, and to Dr. M.Y. Wang, Mr. J. Bailey, Mr. J. Mehroke and Mr. J. Vidmar for essential assistance in experiments.
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Kronzucker, H.J., Glass, A.D.M. & Yaeesh Siddiqi, M. Nitrate induction in spruce: an approach using compartmental analysis. Planta 196, 683–690 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01106761
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01106761