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Regulation of the absorption and release of nitrate by plant cells: A review of current ideas and methodology

  • Chapter
Fundamental, Ecological and Agricultural Aspects of Nitrogen Metabolism in Higher Plants

Part of the book series: Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences ((DPSS,volume 19))

Summary

In most circumstances nitrate uptake into the cells of roots is thermodynamically uphill and the process is severely curtailed by conditions which inhibit the synthesis of ATP and protein. The activity of the transport system can be augmented 2 to 5-fold from a constitutive level to an induced level, by the provision of nitrate in the external solution to cells which have not previously received a nitrate supply. There is some evidence which suggests that the constitutive and the induced NO3 − carriers may be distinct; they may turn over at different rates and the Km of the former is smaller. When cells are deprived of nitrate there is a loss of the induced carrier (= decay) but there may be an increase in the constitutive carrier. During N-starvation both Km and Vmax of net uptake and influx may vary.

Evidence suggests that NO3 − influx is coupled to the proton motive force across the plasma membrane. NO3 − influx is usually accompanied by alkalinization of the external solution, but the effects of influx on the membrane potential are not always those to be expected for a 2H+:NO3 − symport. The insensitivity of NO3 − influx to inhibition of proton pump activity by DES suggests that it may be premature to decide on the type of mechanism which carries NO3 −.

The efflux of nitrate from the cytoplasmic pool is rapid and in many circumstances efflux may be a substantial proportion of the net uptake. Evidence is considered which suggests that net uptake is strongly controlled by the size of the efflux, influx being relatively constant. This view, however, does not take into account well-documented effects of the inhibition of uptake via the pool of amino compounds in the cytoplasm; the depression of uptake caused by NH4 + is probably indirect and mediated through the amino acid pool. Some evidence shows that NH4 + can promote rapid NO3 − efflux while having little or no short-term effect on influx.

The net uptake of nitrate across the plasmalemma appears to be regulated jointly by the size of the cytoplasmic pool of NO3 − — which influences efflux, and of amino acids — which influences influx. Fluxes across the tonoplast appear to be regulated, in unknown ways, by the vacuolar concentration of NO3 − + Cl− and perhaps other anions.

The prospects for understanding regulation will be improved when it is possible to get better measurements of the metabolic/transport pool of NO3 − in the cytoplasm. Some pre- liminary approaches to compartmentation using NMR spectroscopy are briefly described.

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Abbreviations

DES:

Diethylstilboestrol

FCCP:

Carbonyl cyanide P-trifluoromethoxy-phenylhydrazone

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Letcombe Laboratory, Wantage, UK

    David T. Clarkson

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  1. David T. Clarkson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Ecology, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    H. Lambers

  2. Institute for Soil Fertility, Haren, The Netherlands

    J. J. Neeteson

  3. Department of Plant Physiology, University of Groningen, Haren, The Netherlands

    I. Stulen

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© 1986 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht/Boston/Lancaster

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Clarkson, D.T. (1986). Regulation of the absorption and release of nitrate by plant cells: A review of current ideas and methodology. In: Lambers, H., Neeteson, J.J., Stulen, I. (eds) Fundamental, Ecological and Agricultural Aspects of Nitrogen Metabolism in Higher Plants. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 19. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4356-8_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4356-8_1

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