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Inhibition of Nitrate Uptake by Ammonium in Barley. Analysis of
Component Fluxes1
Herbert J. Kronzucker*,
Anthony D.M. Glass, and
M. Yaeesh Siddiqi
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Western Ontario,
London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7 (H.J.K.); and Department of Botany,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
V6T 1Z4 (A.D.M.G., M.Y.S.)
NO3 uptake
by plant roots is rapidly inhibited by exposure to
NH4+. The rapidity of the effect has led to the
presumption that the inhibition results from the direct effects of
NH4+ at the plasma membrane. The mechanism of
this inhibition, however, has been in contention. In the present study
we used the radiotracer N to determine the relative
effects of short-term exposures to NH4+ on the
13NO3 influx, efflux, and
partitioning of absorbed 13N in barley (Hordeum
vulgare) roots. Plants were grown without NO3 or NO2
(uninduced for NO3 uptake), or with 0.1, 1.0, 10 mM NO3 , or 0.1 mM
NO2 (to generate plant roots induced for
NO3 uptake). Exposure to 1 mM
NH4+ strongly reduced influx; the effect was
most pronounced in plants induced for NO3
uptake when NO3 absorption was measured at
low external NO3 . At higher
[NO3 ] and in uninduced plants the
inhibitory effect was much diminished, indicating that
NH4+ inhibition of influx was mediated via
effects on the inducible high-affinity transport system rather than on
the constitutive high-affinity transport system or the low-affinity
transport system. Exposure to NH4+ also caused
increased NO3 efflux; the largest effect was
at low external [NO3 ] in uninduced plants.
In absolute terms, the reduction of influx made the dominant
contribution to the observed reduction of net uptake of
NO3 . Differences in response between plants
induced with NO3 and those induced with
NO2 indicate that
NO2 may not be an appropriate analog for
NO3 under all conditions.
1
This work was supported by a National Science
and Engineering Research Council grant to A.D.M.G. and by a University
of Western Ontario grant to H.J.K.
*
Corresponding author; e-mail kronzuck{at}julian.uwo.ca; fax
1-519-661-3935.
Plant Physiol. (1999) 120: 283-292
Copyright Clearance Center: 0032-0889/99/120//10
© 1999 American Society of Plant Physiologists
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