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Ascorbate metabolism in rice genotypes differing in zinc efficiency

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Abstract

Effects of zinc (Zn) deficiency on shoot metabolites were investigated in contrasting rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes with special focus on ascorbic acid (AsA) biosynthesis, recycling, and catabolism. The genotypes IR74 (sensitive) and RIL46 (tolerant) were subjected to −Zn and control treatments for 3 weeks, and samples were taken at three different stages representing the pre-stress phase, emergence of visible stress, and severe visible stress. The emergence of visible symptoms was paralleled by an increase in lipid peroxidation and a decrease in AsA concentration in the sensitive, but not in the tolerant genotype. The tolerant RIL46 showed enhanced transcript levels of several genes involved in the mannose/l-galactose pathway to AsA biosynthesis, and significant up-regulation of a gene involved in the putative alternative myo-inositol pathway under low Zn stress. The level of most AsA precursors was negatively affected by Zn deficiency, but RIL46 had a constitutively higher level of non-phosphorylated precursors. Products of AsA catabolism such as oxalate and threonate did not accumulate in either genotype, suggesting that AsA degradation did not contribute to the stress-induced decline of the AsA pool in IR74. Further factors possibly contributing to tolerance in RIL46 included an almost fivefold higher proline level under −Zn stress and significantly higher trehalose content. The implications of these compounds in AsA metabolism and Zn efficiency thus deserve further attention.

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Abbreviations

AsA:

Ascorbic acid

DHA:

Dehydroascorbic acid

DHAR:

Dehydroascorbic acid reductase

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

MDHA:

Monodehydroascorbic acid

MDHAR:

Monodehydroascorbic acid reductase

MIOX:

Myo-inositol oxygenase

PMI:

Phosphomannose isomerase

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

QTL:

Quantitative trait locus

Zn:

Zinc

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Acknowledgments

This study was partly funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (FR2952/1-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), Plant Nutrition, University of Bonn, Karlrobert-Kreiten-Straße 13, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Stefanie Höller & Michael Frei

  2. Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Leibniz-Institute for Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Corrensstraße 3, Stadt Seeland, 06466, OT Gatersleben, Germany

    Mohammad-Reza Hajirezaei & Nicolaus von Wirén

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  1. Stefanie Höller
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  2. Mohammad-Reza Hajirezaei
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  3. Nicolaus von Wirén
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  4. Michael Frei
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Correspondence to Michael Frei.

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Höller, S., Hajirezaei, MR., von Wirén, N. et al. Ascorbate metabolism in rice genotypes differing in zinc efficiency. Planta 239, 367–379 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-013-1978-x

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