Abstract
Excess accumulation of nitrate in edible plants particularly onion is a great concern for human health. In this experiment, we investigated the possibility of reducing nitrate accumulation in onion bulb by application of Ni. Two onion cultivars (Allium cepa L. cvs. Dorrcheh and Cebolla Valenciana) were supplied with three levels of Ni (0, 25, and 50 µM) in the form of synthetic Ni–histidine complex [Ni(His)2] and NiCl2. Addition of Ni significantly increased fresh bulb mass of onion cultivars. In ‘Valenciana’, increasing Ni concentration from 25 to 50 µM reduced fresh bulb mass while in ‘Dorrcheh’, no significant difference was found between 25 and 50 µM Ni treatments. Supplement with Ni resulted in lower accumulation of nitrate in onion bulb. This reduction was associated with higher activity of nitrate reductase (NR) and glutamine synthetase (GS). Onion plants supplied with Ni had higher concentration of ammonium and total N in their bulb compared with those unsupplied with Ni. The [Ni(His)2] complex was more effective than NiCl2 in improving yield, stimulating activity of NR and GS, and reducing nitrate concentration in onion. According to the results obtained, application of 25 µM Ni particularly in the form of [Ni(His)2] can be effective in reducing nitrate accumulation and enhancing health quality of onion.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agbaria H, Heuer B, Zieslin N (1998) Rootstock-imposed alterations in nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase activities in leaves of rose plants. Biol Plant 41:85–91
Arkoun M, Jannin L, Laîné P, Etienne P, Masclaux-Daubresse C, Citerne S, Garnica M, Garcia-Mina JM, Yvin JC, Ourry A (2013) A physiological and molecular study of the effects of nickel deficiency and phenylphosphorodiamidate (PPD) application on urea metabolism in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Plant Soil 362:79–92
Aslam M, Travis RL, Rains DW (2001) Differential effect of amino acids on nitrate uptake and reduction systems in barley roots. Plant Sci 160:219–228
Atta-Aly MA (1999) Effect of nickel addition on yield and quality of parsley leaves. Sci Hortic 82:9–24
Bashan E, Paola MD, Hani A, Bashan Y (2008) Role of glutamine dehydrogenase and glutamine synthetase in Chlorella vulgaris assimilation of ammonium when jointly immobilized with the microalgae-growth- promoting bacterium Azospirillum brasilense. J Phycol 44:1188–1196
Bhushan Jha A, Dubey RS (2004) Arsenic exposure alters activity behavior of key nitrogen assimilatory enzymes in growing rice plants. J Plant Growth Regul 43:259–268
Bremner JM, Mulvaney CS (1982) Nitrogen Total. In: Page AL (ed) Methods of soil analysis. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 595–624
Brown PH, Welch RM, Cary EE (1987) Nickel a micronutrient essential for all higher plants. Plant Physiol 85:801–803
Brown PH, Welch RM, Madison JT (1990) Effect of nickel deficiency on soluble anion, amino acid, and nitrogen levels in barley. Plant Soil 125:19–27
Debouba M, Gouia H, Suzuki H, Ghorbel A (2006) NaCl stress effects on enzymes involved in nitrogen assimilation pathway in tomato ‘‘Lycopersicon esculentum’’ seedlings. J Plant Physiol 163:1247–1258
Dich J, Jarvinen R, Knekt P, Penttila PL (1996) Dietary intakes of nitrate, nitrite and NDMA in the Finnish Mobile Clinic Health Examination Survey. Food Addit Contam 13(5):541–552
Dixon NE, Gazzola C, Blakeley RL, Zerner B (1975) Jack bean urease (EC 3.5.1.5). A metalloenzyme. A simple biological role for nickel. J Am Chem Soc 97:4131–4133
Gad N, El-Sherif MH, El-Gereedly NHM (2007) Influence of nickel on some physiological aspects of tomato plants. Aust J Basic Appl Sci 1(3):286–293
Gajewska E, Wielanek M, Bergier K, Skłodowska M (2009) Nickel-induced depression of nitrogen assimilation in wheat roots. Acta Physiol Plant 31:1291–1300
Gerendás J, Sattelmacher B (1997) Significance of Ni supply for growth, urease activity and concentrations of urea, amino acids and mineral nutrients of urea-grown plants. Plant Soil 190:153–162
Gerendás J, Sattelmacher B (1998) Influence of N and Ni supply on nitrogen metabolism and urease activity in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Exp Bot 49(326):1545–1554
Ghasemi S, Khoshgoftarmanesh AH, Hadadzadeh H, Jafari M (2011) Synthesis of iron-amino acid chelates and evaluation of their efficacy as iron source and growth stimulator for tomato in nutrient solution culture. J Plant Growth Regul 31:498–508
Ghasemi S, Khoshgoftarmanesh AH, Hadadzadeh H, Afyuni M (2013a) Synthesis, characterization, and theoretical and experimental investigations of zinc (II)-amino acid complexes as ecofriendly plant growth promoters and highly bioavailable sources of zinc. J Plant Growth Regul 32(2):315–323
Ghasemi S, Khoshgoftarmanesh AH, Hadadzadeh H, Afyuni M (2013b) The effectiveness of foliar application of synthesized zinc-amino acid chelates in comparison with zinc sulfate to increase yield and grain nutritional quality of wheat. Eur J Agron 45:68–74
Gunes A, Inal A, Aktas M (1996) Reducing nitrate content of NFT grown winter onion plants (Allium cepa L.) by partial replacement of NO3—with amino acid in nutrient solution. Sci Hort 65:203–208
Keeney DR, Nelson DW (1982) Inorganic forms of nitrogen. In: Black CA (ed) Methods of soil analysis, Part 2. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 643–698
Kerkeb L, Krämer U (2003) The Role of Free Histidine in xylem loading of nickel in Alyssum lesbiacum and Brassica juncea. Plant Physiol 131:716–724
Khodadadi M, Hassanpanah D (2010) Iranian onion (Allium cepa L.) Cultivars responses to inbreeding depression. Word Appl Sci J 11:426–428
Krämer U, Cotter-Howells JD, Charnock JM, Baker A, Smith J (1996) Free histidine as a metal chelator in plants that accumulate nickel. Nature 379:635–638
Matraszek R (2008) Nitrate reductase activity of two leafy vegetables as affected by nickel and different nitrogen forms. Acta Physiol Plant 30:361–370
Persans MW, Yan X, Patnoe J-MML, Kramer U, Salt ED (1999) Molecular dissection of the role of histidine in nickel hyperaccumulation in Thlaspi goesingense (Halacsy). Am Soc Plant Biol 121:1117–1126
Polacco JC, Holland MA (1993) Roles of Urease in plants cell. Int Rev Cytol 145:65–103
Richau KH, Kozhevnikova AD, Seregin IV, Vooijs R, Koevoets PLM, Smith JAC, Ivanov VB, Schat H (2009) Chelation by histidine inhibits the vacuolar sequestration of nickel in roots of the hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens. New Phytol 183:106–116
Rosen H (1957) A modified ninhydrin colorimetric analysis for amino acids. Arch Biochem Biophys 67:10–15
Rostamforoudi B, Kashi A, Babalaro M, Zamani H (1999) Effect of different urea levels on nitrate accumulation, modifications of phosphor and potassium in bulb and leaf of onion cultivars. Iran J Agr Sci 3:487–493
Santamaria P, Elia A (1997) Producing nitrate-free ensive heads: effect of nitrogen form on growth, yield and ion composition of endive. J Am Soc Hort Sci 122:140–145
SAS Institute (2000) SAS/STAT user’s guide. Version 9. SAS Inst. Cary, NC
Shen M, Zhai B, Dong H, Li J (1982) Studies on nitrate accumulation in vegetable crops I. Evaluation of nitrate and nitrite different vegetable. Acta Hortic Sci 9:41–48
Singer AC, Bell T, Heywood CA, Smith JAC, Thompson IP (2007) Phytoremediation of mixed-contaminated soil using the hyperaccumulator plant Alyssum lesbiacum: evidence of histidine as a measure of phytoextractable nickel. Environ Pollut 147:74–82
Tabatabai SJ (2009) Supplements of nickel affect yield, quality and nitrogen metabolism when urea or nitrate is the sole nitrogen source for cucumber. I Plant Nutr 32:713–724
Tan XW, Ikeda H, Oda M (2000) Effects of Ni concentration in the nutrient solution on the nitrogen assimilation and growth of tomato seedling in hydroponic culture supplied with urea or nitrate as the sole nitrogen source. Sci Hortic 84:265–273
Wang HJ, Wu LH, Wang MY, Zhu YH, Tao QN, Zhang FS (2007) Effects of amino acids replacing nitrate on growth, nitrate accumulation, and macroelement concentrations in Pak-choi (Brassica chinensis L.). Pedosphere 17:595–600
Watanabe Y, Shimada N (1990) Effect of Ni on the plant growth and urea assimilation in higher plants. In: Transactions of the 14th International Congress of Soil Science, vol 4, Kyoto, Japan, Aug 1990. ISSS, Kyoto, Japan, pp 146–151
Zhu Y (2002) Tillage and corn–soyabean rotation effects on nitrate leaching measured with passive capillary fiberglass wick and zero-tension pan lysimeters. PhD dissertation. The Pennsylvania state University, University Park, PA
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alibakhshi, M., Khoshgoftarmanesh, A.H. Effects of nickel nutrition in the mineral form and complexed with histidine in the nitrogen metabolism of onion bulb. Plant Growth Regul 75, 733–740 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-014-9975-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-014-9975-z