This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Web of Science (102) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rufty, T. W. Articles by Volk, R. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rufty, T. W., Jr. Articles by Volk, R. J. Agricola Articles by Rufty, T. W. Articles by Volk, R. J.

Metabolism and Enzymology

Alterations in Leaf Carbohydrate Metabolism in Response to Nitrogen Stress ¹

United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7620, Department of Crop Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7620, Department of Botany, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7620, Department of Soil Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7620

A series of experiments was conducted to characterize alterations in carbohydrate utilization in leaves of nitrogen stressed plants. Two-week-old, nonnodulated soybean plants (Glycine max [L.] Merrill, `Ransom'), grown previously on complete nutrient solutions with 1.0 millimolar NO₃^–, were transferred to solutions without a nitrogen source at the beginning of a dark period. Daily changes in starch and sucrose levels of leaves were monitored over the following 5 to 8 days in three experiments. Starch accumulation increased relative to controls throughout the leaf canopy during the initial two light periods after plant exposure to N-free solutions, but not after that time as photosynthesis declined. The additional increments of carbon incorporated into starch appeared to be quantitatively similar to the amounts of carbon diverted from amino acid synthesis in the same tissues. Since additional accumulated starch was not degraded in darkness, starch levels at the beginning of light periods also were elevated. In contrast to the starch effects, leaf sucrose concentration was markedly higher than controls at the beginning of the first light period after the N-limitation was imposed. In the days which followed, diurnal turnover patterns were similar to controls. In source leaves, the activity of sucrose-P synthase did not decrease until after day 3 of the N-limitation treatment, whereas the concentration of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate was decreased on day 2. Restricted growth of sink leaves was evident with N-limited plants within 2 days, having been preceeded by a sharp decline in levels of fructose-2,6 bisphosphate on the first day of treatment. The results suggest that changes in photosynthate partitioning in source leaves of N-stressed plants resulted largely from a stable but limited capacity for sucrose formation, and that decreased sucrose utilization in sink leaves contributed to the whole-plant diversion of carbohydrate from the shoot to the root.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. L. Bot, C. Benard, C. Robin, F. Bourgaud, and S. Adamowicz The 'trade-off' between synthesis of primary and secondary compounds in young tomato leaves is altered by nitrate nutrition: experimental evidence and model consistency J. Exp. Bot., November 1, 2009; 60(15): 4301 - 4314. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. W. Hogewoning and J. Harbinson Insights on the development, kinetics, and variation of photoinhibition using chlorophyll fluorescence imaging of a chilled, variegated leaf J. Exp. Bot., February 1, 2007; 58(3): 453 - 463. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Urbanczyk-Wochniak and A. R. Fernie Metabolic profiling reveals altered nitrogen nutrient regimes have diverse effects on the metabolism of hydroponically-grown tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants J. Exp. Bot., January 1, 2005; 56(410): 309 - 321. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Wang, R. Tischner, R. A. Gutierrez, M. Hoffman, X. Xing, M. Chen, G. Coruzzi, and N. M. Crawford Genomic Analysis of the Nitrate Response Using a Nitrate Reductase-Null Mutant of Arabidopsis Plant Physiology, September 1, 2004; 136(1): 2512 - 2522. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Lou and I. T. Baldwin Nitrogen Supply Influences Herbivore-Induced Direct and Indirect Defenses and Transcriptional Responses in Nicotiana attenuata Plant Physiology, May 1, 2004; 135(1): 496 - 506. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. A. Schmelz, H. T. Alborn, J. Engelberth, and J. H. Tumlinson Nitrogen Deficiency Increases Volicitin-Induced Volatile Emission, Jasmonic Acid Accumulation, and Ethylene Sensitivity in Maize Plant Physiology, September 1, 2003; 133(1): 295 - 306. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. C. de Groot, R. van den Boogaard, L. F. M. Marcelis, J. Harbinson, and H. Lambers Contrasting effects of N and P deprivation on the regulation of photosynthesis in tomato plants in relation to feedback limitation J. Exp. Bot., August 1, 2003; 54(389): 1957 - 1967. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. H. Foyer, M. Parry, and G. Noctor Markers and signals associated with nitrogen assimilation in higher plants J. Exp. Bot., January 3, 2003; 54(382): 585 - 593. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Sun, K. M. Gibson, O. Kiirats, T. W. Okita, and G. E. Edwards Interactions of Nitrate and CO2 Enrichment on Growth, Carbohydrates, and Rubisco in Arabidopsis Starch Mutants. Significance of Starch and Hexose Plant Physiology, November 1, 2002; 130(3): 1573 - 1583. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. M. Banks, S. P. Driscoll, M. A.J. Parry, D. W. Lawlor, J. S. Knight, J. C. Gray, and M. J. Paul Decrease in Phosphoribulokinase Activity by Antisense RNA in Transgenic Tobacco. Relationship between Photosynthesis, Growth, and Allocation at Different Nitrogen Levels Plant Physiology, March 1, 1999; 119(3): 1125 - 1136. [Abstract] [Full Text]