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Drought-Induced Effects on Nitrate Reductase Activity and mRNA
and on the Coordination of Nitrogen and Carbon Metabolism in Maize
Leaves1
Christine H. Foyer*,
Marie-Hélène Valadier,
Andrea Migge, and
Thomas W. Becker
Department of Environmental Biology, Institute of Grassland and
Environmental Research, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23
3EB, United Kingdom (C.H.F.); Laboratoire du Metabolisme, Institut
National de la Recherche Agronomique, Route de Saint Cyr, F-78026
Versailles, France (M.-H.V.); and Lehrstuhl für Genetik,
Fakultät für Biolgie, Universität Bielefeld, Postfach
10 01 31, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany (A.M., T.W.B.)
Maize (Zea mays L.)
plants were grown to the nine-leaf stage. Despite a saturating N
supply, the youngest mature leaves (seventh position on the stem)
contained little NO3 reserve. Droughted
plants (deprived of nutrient solution) showed changes in foliar enzyme
activities, mRNA accumulation, photosynthesis, and carbohydrate and
amino acid contents. Total leaf water potential and CO2
assimilation rates, measured 3 h into the photoperiod, decreased
3 d after the onset of drought. Starch, glucose, fructose, and
amino acids, but not sucrose (Suc), accumulated in the leaves of
droughted plants. Maximal extractable
phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activities increased
slightly during water deficit, whereas the sensitivity of this enzyme
to the inhibitor malate decreased. Maximal extractable Suc phosphate
synthase activities decreased as a result of water stress, and there
was an increase in the sensitivity to the inhibitor orthophosphate. A
correlation between maximal extractable foliar nitrate reductase (NR)
activity and the rate of CO2 assimilation was observed. The
NR activation state and maximal extractable NR activity declined
rapidly in response to drought. Photosynthesis and NR activity
recovered rapidly when nutrient solution was restored at this point.
The decrease in maximal extractable NR activity was accompanied by a
decrease in NR transcripts, whereas Suc phosphate synthase and
phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase mRNAs were much less
affected. The coordination of N and C metabolism is retained during
drought conditions via modulation of the activities of Suc phosphate
synthase and NR commensurate with the prevailing rate of
photosynthesis.
1
This work was supported by European Economic
Community Biotechnology (contract no. BIO2 CT93 0400), by the Project
of Technical Priority, Network D-Nitrogen Utilization and Efficiency,
and by a research grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Be 1108/5-1 Be 1108/5-33).
*
Corresponding author; e-mail christine.foyer{at}bbsrc.ac.uk; fax
44-1970-828357.
Plant Physiol. (1998) 117: 283-292
Copyright Clearance Center: 0032-0889/98/117/0283/10
© 1998 American Society of Plant Physiologists
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