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Respiratory capacity, nitrogenase activity and structural changes ofFrankia, in symbiosis withAlnus incana, in response to prolonged darkness

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Abstract

Plants ofAlnus incana (L.) Moench in symbiosis with a local source ofFrankia were exposed to prolonged darkness under controlled climate conditions.Frankia vesicle clusters were prepared from the root nodules, and the condition ofFrankia was measured as respiratory capacity by supplying the preparation with saturating amounts of four different substrates. During darkness, nitrogenase (EC 1.7.99.2) activity decreased in intact plants and in the vesicle-cluster preparations. The respiratory capacity ofFrankia also decreased. After 4 d in darkness most respiration was lost, though all nitrogenase activity was already lost after 3 d. When the dark treatment was ended after 2 d and normal light/dark conditions restored, nitrogenase activity immediately started to recover. The respiratory capacity continued to decrease and no recovery was observed until the third day after the end of the dark treatment. Whole-plant nitrogenase activity slowly increased at a rate similar to the rate of increase observed in untreated plants. Transmission electron micrographs of the root nodules showed that the cytoplasm of infected host cells and the cells ofFrankia were structurally degraded in response to dark treatment, while young vesicles were frequent during recovery. Growth and differentiation ofFrankia cells were apparently important for recovery of the enzyme activities studied.

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Abbreviations

ARA:

acetylene-reduction activity

TEM:

transmission electron microscopy

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Physiology, University of Umeå, S-901 87, Umeå, Sweden

    Per-Åke Vikman, Per-Olof Lundquist & Kerstin Huss-Danell

Authors
  1. Per-Åke Vikman
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  2. Per-Olof Lundquist
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  3. Kerstin Huss-Danell
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Additional information

We greatly appreciate the excellent TEM and photography work by Lenore Johansson, and the experienced attendance of the plants by Annika Hedström. The study was financially supported by the Swedish Council for Forestry and Agricultural Research, the Swedish Natural Science Research Council and the foundation Seth M. Kempes memory.

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Vikman, PÅ., Lundquist, PO. & Huss-Danell, K. Respiratory capacity, nitrogenase activity and structural changes ofFrankia, in symbiosis withAlnus incana, in response to prolonged darkness. Planta 182, 617–625 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02341040

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