Abstract
Ammonium is constantly generated from a variety of processes in plant nitrogen metabolism. Re-fixation of the liberated ammonium is catalysed by the enzyme glutamine synthetase (GS). Cytosolic GS isoforms dominate in the roots, while a chloroplastic GS isoform is the quantitatively most important in green leaves. Despite the central role of NH +4 as an intermediate in plant nitrogen metabolism very little is known about the processes regulation NH +4 distribution between cell organelles and plant organs.
The extent of NH +4 translocation from roots to shoots in oil-seed rape plants (Brassica napus L.) depended on the external N supply and the activity of GS isoforms in the root. Addition of either NO −3 or NH +4 to N-starved induced both cytosolic GS isogene expression and GS activity in the roots. In N-replete plants, root GS isogene expression and activity were repressed causing enhanced NH +4 translocation to the shoots. Xylem NH +4 concentrations increased linearly both with time of exposure to NH +4 and with increasing external NH +4 concentration. The maximum xylem NH +4 concentration in NH +4 -fed plants was 8 mM, corresponding to 11% of the nitrogen translocated in the xylem, while in NO −3 -fed plants the xylem NH +4 concentration was around 0.6 mM, constituting 2% of the nitrogen translocated in the xylem.
Regulation of apoplastic NH +4 concentration in leaves of oil-seed rape was studied using a vacuum infiltration technique allowing controlled manipulations of the apoplastic solution. The apoplastic solution constituted a highly dynamic NH +4 pool. Ammonium was constantly added to this pool via NH3 efflux from the mesophyll cells. The NH +4 was retrieved by a system involving a transporter with channel-like properties which was able to respond very rapidly to perturbations in apoplastic NH +4 concentration, thereby maintaining apoplastic NH +4 homeostasis More detailed investigations into 15NH +4 uptake into B. napus leaf protoplasts revealed the presence of an additional high-affinity NH +4 uptake system, similar in kinetics to the AMT1 transporter observed in Arabidopsis, tomato and rice. Primers based on conserved regions of the AMT1 transporter were used in RT-PCR reactions to identify and subsequently clone a homologue in B. napus (BnAMT1). The Bnamt1 gene was found to be strongly expressed under all N conditions but regulated by N supply.
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Schjoerring, J.K., Finnemann, J., Husted, S., Mattsson, M., Nielsen, K.H., Pearson, J.N. (1999). Regulation of Ammonium Distribution in Plants. In: Gissel-Nielsen, G., Jensen, A. (eds) Plant Nutrition — Molecular Biology and Genetics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2685-6_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2685-6_11
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