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Effect of boron supply on nitrate concentration and its reduction in roots and leaves of tobacco plants

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Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

Shoot and root mass of tobacco plants treated with only 0.05 µM boron was decreased by 25 and 50 %, respectively, when compared to plants sufficiently supplied with B (2 and 5 µM). Leaf B content of 0.05 µM B-treated plants decreased (about 80–90 %) when compared to 2 µM B treated plants; this drop of B content were not as marked (about 25–45 %) in roots. Leaf and root nitrate contents in B-deficient plants were 45–60 % and 35–45 % lower, respectively, than those from 2 and 5 µM B treated plants. It is suggested that B deficiency might decrease nitrate uptake rather than nitrate reductase activity in tobacco plants.

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Abbreviations

d.m.:

dry mass

f.m.:

fresh mass

Nia :

nitrate reductase structural gene

NR:

nitrate reductase

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Fisiología, Anatomía y Biología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, E-41013, Sevilla, Spain

    M. A. Matas, A. González-Fontes & J. J. Camacho-Cristóbal

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  1. M. A. Matas
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  2. A. González-Fontes
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  3. J. J. Camacho-Cristóbal
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Correspondence to A. González-Fontes.

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Matas, M.A., González-Fontes, A. & Camacho-Cristóbal, J.J. Effect of boron supply on nitrate concentration and its reduction in roots and leaves of tobacco plants. Biol Plant 53, 120–124 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-009-0016-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-009-0016-0

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