Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Influence of Methylobacterium on iron translocation in plants

  • Published:
BioMetals Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Iron metabolism in plants is essential to maintain optimal growth and iron nutrition is dependent on uptake of iron from the environment and movement of iron in the plant tissues. We have examined the translocation of iron in plant leaves following foliar application of FeEDTA to Vicia faba and Zea mays. Using radiolabeled iron, we observed that iron translocation is stimulated by products of Methylobacterium mesophylicum and by the cytokinin, kinetin. When cytokinins were applied to leaves along with 55FeEDTA, the rate of iron translocation was greater than in controls without cytokinin addition. Since recent studies indicate that M. mesophylicum is widely distributed in the environment as a pyllospheric bacterium, this organism may have an important role in enhancing translocation of nutrients in plant leaves.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akiyoshi DE, Regier DA, Gordon MP (1987) Cytokinin production by Agrobacterium and Pseudomonas spp. J Bacteriol 169:4242–4248

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Akiva A, Hewitt EJ (1959) The effects of triiodobenzoic acid and urea on the response of chlorotic lemon (Citrus limonia) trees to foliar application of iron compounds. Plant Physiol 34:641–642

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer P, Hell R (2007) Translocation of iron in plant tissues. In: Barton LL, Abadίa J (eds) Iron nutrition in plants and rhizospheric microorganisms. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 279–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Curie C, Briat J-F (2003) Iron transport and signaling in plants. Annu Rev Plant Biol 34:183–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de La Guardia MD, Alcántara E (1996) Ferric chelate reduction by sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) leaves: influence of light, oxygen, iron-deficiency and leaf age. J Experimen Bot 47:669–675

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delmotte N, Knief C, Chaffron S, Innerebner G, Roschitzki B, Schlapbach R, von Mering C, Vorholt JA (2009) Community proteogenomics reveals insights into the physiology of phyllosphere bacteria. PNAS 106:16428–16433

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fang Y, Wang L, Xin Z, Zhao L, An X, Hu Q (2008) Effect of foliar application of zinc, selenium, and iron fertilizers on nutrients concentration and yield of rice grain in China. J Agric Food Chem 56:2079–2084

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández V, Winkelmann G, Ebert G (2004) Iron supply to tobacco plants through foliar application of iron citrate and ferric dimerum acid. Physiol Plant 122:380–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gersani M, Kende H (1982) Studies on cytokinin-stimulated translocation in isolated bean leaves. J Plant Growth Regul 1:161–171

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen NV, Hopkins BG, Ellsworth JW, Jolley VD (2007) Iron nutrition in field crops. In: Barton LL, Abadίa J (eds) Iron nutrition in plants and rhizospheric microorganisms. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 23–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland MA (1997) Occam’s razor applied to hormonology. Plant Physiol 115:865–868

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Holland MA, Polacco JC (1992) Urease-null and hydrogenase-null phenotypes of a phylloplane bacterium reveal altered nickel metabolism in two soybean mutants. Plant Physiol 98:942–948

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Holland MA, Polacco JC (1994) PPFMs and other covert contaminants: is there more to plant physiology than just plants? Annu Rev Plant Physiol Mol Biol 45:197–209

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kannan S (1969) Factors related to iron absorption by enzymatically isolated leaf cells. New Phytol 69:1457–1460

    Google Scholar 

  • Kannan S, Mathew T (1970) Effect of growth substances on the absorption and transport of iron in plants. Plant Physiol 45:206–209

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kawai S, Alam S (2007) Iron stress response and composition of xylem sap of Strategy II plants. In: Barton LL, Abadίa J (eds) Iron nutrition in plants and rhizospheric microorganisms. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 289–311

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaya C, Higgs D, Burton A (1999) Foliar application of iron as a remedy for zinc toxic tomato plants. J Plant Nutr 22:1829–1837

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler B, Moscicki ZW (1958) Effects of triiodobenzoic acid and maleic hydrazide upon the transport of foliar applied calcium and iron. Plant Physiol 33:70–72

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig RL, Morris RO, Polacco JC (2002) tRNA is the source of low-level trans-zeatin production in Methylobacterium spp. J Bacteriol 184:1832–1842

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kuraishi S, Ishikawa F (1977) Relationship between transpiration and amino acid accumulation in Brassica leaf discs treated with cytokinins and fusicoccin. Plant Cell Physiol 18:1273–1279

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kutschera U (2007) Plant-associated methylobacteria as co-evolved phytosymbionts. Plant Signal Behav 2:74–78

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Letham DS (1973) Cytokinins from Zea mays. Phytochem 12:2445–2455

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marschner H, Römheld V (1994) Strategies of plants for acquisition of iron. Plant Soil 165:261–274

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller CO, Skoog F, Von Saltza MH, Strong F (1955) Kinetin, a cell division factor from deoxyribonucleic acid. J Am Chem Soc 77:1392–1393

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mothes K, Engelbrecht L (1961) Kinetin-induced directed transport of substances in excised leaves in the dark. Phytochemistry 1:58–62

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Müller K, Leopold AC (1966) The mechanism of kinetin induced transport in corn leaves. Planta 68:186–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumann PM, Prinz R (1975) Foliar iron spray potentiates growth of seedlings on iron-free media. Plant Physiol 55:988–990

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noodén LD, Letham DS (1993) Cytokinin metabolism and signaling in the soybean plant. Aust J Plant Physiol 20:639–653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pawar MW, Joshi SS, Amodkar VT (2003) Effect of foliar application of phosphorus and micronutrients on enzyme activities and juice quality in sugar cane. Sugar Tech 5:161–165

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez-Lucena P, Ropero E, Hernández-Apaolaza L, Lucena JJ (2010) Iron supply to soybean plants through the foliar application of IDHA/Fe3+: effect of plant nutritional status and adjuvants. J Sci Food Agri 90:2633–2640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt W (2003) Iron homeostasis in plants: sensing and signaling pathways. J Plant Nutr 26:2211–2230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt W (2007) Iron stress responses in roots of strategy I plants. In: Barton LL, Abadίa J (eds) Iron nutrition in plants and rhizospheric microorganisms. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 229–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh AL, Dayal D (1992) Foliar application of iron for recovering groundnut plants from lime-induced iron deficiency chlorosis and accompanying losses in yields. J Plant Nutr 15:1421–1433

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Srivastava LM (2002) Plant growth and development. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephan UW, Schmidke I, Stephan VW, Scholz G (1996) The nicotianamine molecule is made-to-measure for complexation of metal micronutrients in plants. Biometals 9:84–90

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taiz L, Zeiger E (1998) Plant Physiology, 2nd edn. Sinauer Associates, Inc, Sunderland, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Takagi S (1976) Naturally occurring iron-chelating compounds in oat- and rice-root washing. Soil Sci Plant Nutr 22:423–433

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Torrey JG (1976) Root hormones and plant growth. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 27:435–459

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waters BM, Uauy C, Dubcovsky J, Grusak MA (2009) Wheat (Triticum aestivum) NAM proteins regulate the translocation of iron, zinc, and nitrogen compounds from vegetative tissues to grain. J Exp Bot 60:4263–4274

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wei LC, Loeppert RH, Ocumpaugh WR (1997) Fe-deficiency stress response in Fe-deficiency resistant and susceptible subterranean clover: importance of induced H+ release. J Exp Bot 48:239–246

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors are pleased to recognize the American Society of Plant Biologists, the Student Research Allocations of the Biology Department, and the Graduate Student Association of the University of New Mexico for financial support. We also wish to thank Mark A. Holland at Salisbury State University, Salisbury, Maryland for the newly isolated culture of Methylobacterium mesophylicum. We acknowledge Timothy J. Baker for his assistance in the radioassay measurements and Wei Lok Tsui for construction of the graphs.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, MSCO3 2020, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-0001, USA

    Yvonne M. Bishop, Larry L. Barton & Gordon V. Johnson

Authors
  1. Yvonne M. Bishop
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Larry L. Barton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gordon V. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Larry L. Barton.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bishop, Y.M., Barton, L.L. & Johnson, G.V. Influence of Methylobacterium on iron translocation in plants. Biometals 24, 575–580 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-011-9408-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-011-9408-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation