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Plant Physiol. (1998) 116: 581-587
Effects of Hypoxia on 13NH4+
Fluxes in Rice Roots1
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ABSTRACT |
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Techniques of compartmental (efflux) and kinetic influx analyses with the radiotracer 13NH4+ were used to examine the adaptation to hypoxia (15, 35, and 50% O2 saturation) of root N uptake and metabolism in 3-week-old hydroponically grown rice (Oryza sativa L., cv IR72) seedlings. A time-dependence study of NH4+ influx into rice roots after onset of hypoxia (15% O2) revealed an initial increase in the first 1 to 2.5 h after treatment imposition, followed by a decline to less than 50% of influx in control plants by 4 d. Efflux analyses conducted 0, 1, 3, and 5 d after the treatment confirmed this adaptation pattern of NH4+ uptake. Half-lives for NH4+ exchange with subcellular compartments, cytoplasmic NH4+ concentrations, and efflux (as percentage of influx) were unaffected by hypoxia. However, significant differences were observed in the relative amounts of N allocated to NH4+ assimilation and the vacuole versus translocation to the shoot. Kinetic experiments conducted at 100, 50, 35, and 15% O2 saturation showed no significant change in the Km value for NH4+ uptake with varying O2 supply. However, Vmax was 42% higher than controls at 50% O2 saturation, unchanged at 35%, and 10% lower than controls at 15% O2. The significance of these flux adaptations is discussed.
More than 70% of the world In flooded lowland rice soils, where the bulk of the soil is hypoxic to
anaerobic, the main form of plant-available N is
NH4+ (Sasakawa and Yamamoto,
1978 Plant Growth Conditions
![]()
INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results & Discussion
References
s rice (Oryza sativa L.) is
produced in intensively cultivated, irrigated lowland systems in Asia (International Rice Research Institute, 1997
). In these systems N is
generally the main factor limiting the realization of yield potentials
(Kropf et al., 1993
; Cassman et al., 1997). As a consequence, large
amounts of mineral N fertilizers are used. According to one estimate,
7 × 106 metric tons of N is applied each
year to the 74 × 106 ha of irrigated rice
in Asia (Cassman and Pingali, 1995). However, unless the application of
N fertilizer is timed precisely to match plant demand (Cassman et al.,
1998
), less than 50% of fertilizer N is usually recovered by the crop,
because of high rates of loss through ammonia volatilization and
denitrification (Craswell and Vlek, 1979
; Vlek and Byrnes, 1986
;
Cassman et al., 1993
). Clearly, the capacity of the root system to
capture N in competition with these processes is critical. Mathematical
modeling of the uptake process (Kirk and Solivas, 1997
) shows that,
under typical field conditions and following the initial flush of
available N after fertilization, N absorption from the soil is rate
limiting.
; Yu, 1985
). This is in marked contrast to most (aerobic)
agricultural soils, where NO3
is the predominant inorganic N species (Kronzucker et al., 1995b
). There have been reports that
NH4+ is the preferred N species
taken up by rice (Bonner, 1946
; Fried et al., 1965
; Shen, 1969
;
Dijkshoorn and Ismunadji, 1972a
, 1972b
; Yoneyama and Kumazawa, 1974
,
1975
; Sasakawa and Yamamoto, 1978
; Ancheng et al., 1993
; Wang et al.,
1993a
, 1993b
) and that NH4+ is
superior to NO3
in terms of
fertilizer efficiency (Craswell and Vlek, 1979
). Information regarding
NH4+ uptake capacity and
affinity under hypoxic conditions is scarce, however (Sasakawa and
Yamamoto, 1978
; Youngdahl et al., 1982
; Wang et al., 1993b
). It is not
known how intracellular compartmentation and metabolic processing of
NH4+ are affected by lowered
O2 tensions (Wang et al., 1993a
). With the goal
of developing new rice varieties, which might be more efficient in N
extraction from paddy soils (Kirk and Kronzucker, 1998
),
information concerning N uptake and metabolism under more realistic
conditions is needed. In this paper we report a study of the adaptation
of flux parameters for NH4+ to
hypoxic growth conditions in roots of rice, using
13NH4+ as
a tracer and combining techniques of kinetic flux and compartmental analyses.
![]()
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results & Discussion
References
2
s
1 measured at plant level (with an LI-189
light meter and an LI-190SA quantum sensor, Li-Cor, Lincoln, NE) was
provided by fluorescent lamps (215 W, 1500, F96T12/CW/VHO, Philips,
Mahwah, NJ).
Nutrient Solutions
Rice seedlings were cultivated in hydroponic medium contained in 40-L Plexiglas tanks. Deionized, distilled water and reagent-grade chemicals were used in the preparation of all nutrient solutions. NH4+ was provided as the only source of N in the form of (NH4)2SO4. Other nutrient salts added were as follows: K2SO4 (1 mm), MgSO4 (2 mm), CaCl2 (1 mm), NaH2PO4 (300 µm), Fe-EDTA (100 µm), MnCl2 (9 µm), (Na)6Mo7O24 (25 µm), H3BO3 (20 µm), ZnSO4 (1.5 µm), and CuSO4 (1.5 µm). The complete solution was maintained from germination onward.
; [K+], measured
flame-photometrically (using an Instrumentation Laboratory Photometer,
model 443, Lexington, MA); pH, measured with a microprocessor-based pocket-sized pH meter (pH Testr2 model 59000-20; Cole Parmer, Chicago,
IL) and maintained at 6.5 ± 0.3 by addition of powdered CaCO3; and [O2], measured
using a biological O2 monitor (YSI model 53, Yellow Springs Instruments, Yellow Springs, OH) equipped with an
O2 electrode (YSI 5331 Oxygen Probe, Yellow
Springs Instruments). Nutrient solutions were degassed prior to filling
of the tanks. O2 concentrations of 7.5, 3.75, 2.6, and 1.1 µg mL
1 were maintained by
infusion of N2 gas (Praxair, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) via aquarium stones placed at various solution depths
(5, 10, and 15 cm; tanks were covered and the overall solution depth
was 17 cm). The minimum O2 concentration
attainable with this method was 1.1. µg mL
1
(15% of saturation).
Measurement of Fluxes
The radiotracer 13N (half-life = 9.96 min) was produced by the Tri-University Meson Facility cyclotron at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) by proton irradiation of water. This procedure produced mostly 13NO3
,
with high radiochemical purity (Kronzucker et al., 1995b
to
13NH4+
using Devarda's alloy were as described in detail elsewhere
(Kronzucker et al., 1995a
|
|
, 1995e
). An exposure time of 10 min to
13NH4+ was
chosen, since the contribution of tracer efflux from the cytoplasm can
be expected to be negligible during this time (Kronzucker et al.,
1995d
; A.D.M. Glass, H.J. Kronzucker, and M.Y. Siddiqi, unpublished
results).
-counter (Minaxi
, series Auto-
5000, Packard,
Meriden, CT), measuring the 511-kV positron-electron annihilation
radiation generated by recombination of ambient electrons and
+ particles emitted from
13N. Using the specific activity
(13N/[13N + 14N] [disintegrations per micromole]) of the
loading solution and the total fresh root weight of each seedling, we
calculated NH4+ fluxes and
expressed the results in micromoles per gram fresh weight per hour.
, 1995d
, 1995e
) under the same conditions as
the influx experiments. Roots of intact rice seedlings were immersed
for 45 to 60 min in 120-mL darkened plastic beakers containing the
13NH4+-labeled
solution. Steady-state conditions, with respect to all nutrients as
well as O2 tensions, were maintained throughout
growth, loading, and elution. A 60-min loading period was chosen on the basis of the t1/2 for the cytoplasmic phase
being approximately 14 min (see "Results and Discussion").
Therefore, 60 min of exposure to tracer ensured that the specific
activity of the cytoplasm was approximately 95% of that in the loading
solution (Kronzucker et al., 1995e
). Following loading with
13NH4+,
seedlings were transferred to "efflux funnels" (Wang et al., 1993a
), and the roots were eluted with 20-mL aliquots of nonradioactive solution after varying intervals. These intervals ranged from 5 s
to 2 min, over an experimental duration of 22 min. Eluates from a total
of 25 intervals were collected separately, and the radioactivities of
20-mL samples from each eluate were determined (using a Minaxi
counter, series Auto-
5000). After the final elution, roots and
shoots were excised, introduced into scintillation vials and also
counted for
activity.
Data Analysis
All experiments were replicated three to five times. Each experimental treatment consisted of four replicates for influx experiments and two replicates for efflux experiments. Data from several experiments were pooled (n
6 in efflux
experiments; n
12 in influx experiments) for
calculations of means and ses. These values were used for plotting time-dependence curves and uptake isotherms, as well as for
calculating Vmax and
Km values. The least-squares method by
Cornish-Bowden and Wharton, based on the Michaelis-Menten equation, was
used to obtain Vmax and
Km estimates for the saturable
high-affinity transport system isotherms (Kronzucker et al., 1995d
co,
efflux from the cytoplasm, obtained from the rate of
13N release from the cytoplasm at time 0 divided
by the specific activity of the loading solution;
net, net flux, obtained directly from the
accumulation of 13N in the plants at the end of
the loading period;
oc, unidirectional influx,
calculated from
net +
co;
xylem, flux of
13N to the shoot, obtained directly from count
accumulation in the shoot at the end of the elution period; and
vac./ass., combined fluxes to ammonium
assimilation and to the vacuole, resulting from
net
xylem.
| |
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
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We found that NH4+ influx
across the root plasmalemma responded within hours to the imposition of
hypoxia (Fig. 1). Whereas in fully
oxygenated plants NH4+ influx,
measured at 100 µm
[NH4+]o,
was 4.31 (± 0.39) µmol g
1
h
1, an increase in influx of approximately 35%
was apparent after 1 to 2.5 h of hypoxia (15%
O2 saturation, i.e. approximately 1.1 µg
mL
1). Even though evolutionary adaptation
strategies to deal with restricted O2 supply in
the rooting zone differ markedly between species and are poorly
understood (Drew, 1990
; Crawford, 1992
), some rapid cellular responses
appear to be universal. In particular, cytosolic acidification at the
onset of hypoxia has been documented in several species, including rice
(Roberts et al., 1985
; Hoffman et al., 1986
). This is believed to be
due to lactic acid production preceding a switch to fermentative
metabolism, as well as, in some cases, to proton leakage from the
vacuole (Menegus et al., 1989
, 1991
). In species susceptible to damage
from O2 deprivation, this cytoplasmic acidosis is
pronounced (as much as 0.8 pH unit) and not fully reversible. By
contrast, in hypoxia-tolerant plants, it is of a relatively lesser
magnitude (
0.4 pH unit in rice) and is followed by alkalinization of
both the cytoplasm and the vacuole (Menegus et al., 1991
). In fact, in
rice cytosolic acidosis is complete after as little as 10 min of
O2 withdrawal and is sustained for no more than
4 h (Menegus et al., 1991
), i.e. within an interval of time
corresponding to our observed up-regulation of
NH4+ influx into rice roots.
|
-aminobutyric acid or polyamines such as putrescine, respectively
(Reggiani et al., 1989
, 1990
, 1993
; Reggiani, 1994
; Aurisano et al.,
1995
). Polyamines in turn have been shown to stimulate plasmalemma
H+-ATPase activity (Reggiani et al., 1992
). Thus,
the observed higher N acquisition rates may be consistent with the N
requirements associated with pH regulation during the first hours under
conditions of O2 restriction. Also, higher
NH4+ influx might meet the needs
of an apparently generally increased N metabolism under
O2-restriction conditions (Reggiani et al., 1988
,
1989
). Increased N acquisition might be operating in parallel to the
documented N remobilization by degradation of storage proteins (Reggiani et al., 1988
). Ultimately, i.e. under prolonged
O2 stress, such up-regulation responses of N
uptake must be compromised by restrictions in ATP supply (Reggiani et
al., 1985
).
1 h
1 by 4 d. To
ensure steady-state conditions in subsequent kinetic experiments,
7 d of hypoxia pretreatment was therefore used prior to labeling
with 13N.
1
h
1 (±0.48), with a
Km of 31.78 µm (±11.8).
Km values did not change significantly with
varying O2 supply;
Vmax was unchanged at 35%, approximately
10% lower at 15% and 42% higher at 50% saturation. The increase of
NH4+ influx observed at 50%
O2 is interesting and appears to be another manifestation of increased N demand under O2
stress, realized in up-regulated N uptake. Apparently, below 35%
O2 rice roots are no longer able to up-regulate
NH4+ influx. However, N
acquisition rates remain considerable. The maintenance of appreciable N
uptake rates in deoxygenated hydroponic systems has been reported
previously for Japonica rice (Sasakawa and Yamamoto, 1978
).
). Semilogarithmic plots of the rate
of 13NH4+
release from cv IR-72 roots versus time of elution showed three distinct phases of 13N efflux (Wang et al.,
1993a
; Kronzucker et al., 1995c
, 1995e
). All three efflux phases could
be described adequately by first-order kinetics
(r2
0.95). Eluates representative of
each efflux phase were passed through cation-exchange resins
(analytical grade AG 50 W-X 8 cation-exchange resin, 200-400 mesh,
Na+ form, Bio-Rad; Kronzucker et al., 1995c
), and
it was confirmed that
99.2% of the 13N was
positively charged. Since the concentration of positively charged amino
acids in 3-week-old rice roots is typically less than 5% of total
amino acid concentrations (Yoneyama and Kumazawa, 1974
; Wang et al.,
1993a
) and the metabolic pool of assimilation products can be expected
to be labeled more slowly than the cytoplasmic NH4+ pool (Macklon et al.,
1990
), the contribution of the N species other than
13NH4+ to
the pool of effluxing 13N was considered
negligible.
), the three phases of
NH4+ exchange in the present
study could be interpreted as a surface film of
NH4+ adhering to the roots
(including the water free space), the Donnan free space, and the
cytoplasm. This is in keeping with previously published tentative
compartment assignments in similar 13N studies
(Kronzucker et al., 1995e
, and refs. therein). For the three
compartments in the present study t1/2
values were approximately 2 to 3 s, 30 s, and 14 min,
respectively. These estimates are very close to those reported by Wang
et al. (1993a)
for rice, except for t1/2 of
the cytoplasmic phase, which was significantly longer in our study (14 as opposed to 7 min). However, 10 to 14 min for
NH4+ was also found in other
species, such as spruce (Kronzucker et al., 1995c
, 1995e
), other
tree species, Arabidopsis, and barley (Hordeum vulgare
L.) (A.D.M. Glass, H.J. Kronzucker, X.-J. Min, and M.Y. Siddiqi,
unpublished results).
for rice and is
similar to results obtained in spruce, which is known to be better
adapted to NH4+ uptake than
NO3
(Kronzucker et al., 1997
).
The high cytoplasmic NH4+ levels
raise interesting questions with respect to
NH4+ toxicity (Givan, 1979
). It
has long been assumed that high intracellular NH4+ concentrations are
incompatible with physiological functioning for various reasons
(Magalhaes and Fernandes, 1995
), especially in species such as barley,
wheat, pea, or tomato, which show pronounced symptoms of
NH4+ toxicity when grown on
NH4+ as the sole N source
(Kronzucker et al., 1995c
; Magalhaes and Fernandes, 1995
; Bligny et
al., 1997
). It is unclear why
NH4+ is not toxic in rice and
spruce. There are also implications pertaining to some traditional
assumptions regarding substrate limitation for enzymic
NH4+-processing reactions
alternative to Gln synthetase, in particular glutamate dehydrogenase
and Asn synthase (Cedar and Schwartz, 1969a
, 1969b
; Oaks and Ross,
1984
). Our results suggest that genetic engineering, through
overexpression of genes that code for such enzymes in rice, might well
be a useful technological approach to increasing N-utilization capacity
by enhancing metabolic processing of the freely available
NH4+.
(a) The capacity for NH4+
acquisition in rice seedlings in the vegetative stage remains high,
even at very low O2 concentrations (approximately
1 µg mL Received September 9, 1997;
accepted November 4, 1997.
Abbreviations:
[NH4+]cyt, cytoplasmic NH4+ concentration.
[NH4+]o, NH4+ concentration in the external solution.
For provision of 13N we wish to thank M. Adam, T. Hurtado, and T. Ruth at the particle acceleration facility
Tri-university Meson Facility at the University of British Columbia.
Our thanks also to D.T. Britto, Y. Erner, X.-J. Min, J.K. Schjoerring,
and D. Zhuo for essential assistance with 13N
experiments.
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1 h
1 for fully
oxygenated controls, 4.02 after 1 d of hypoxia, 2.78 after 3 d, and 2.12 after 5 d. Efflux, as a percentage of influx, was
approximately 15% to 25% and as such was not significantly different
between treatments. Significant differences were seen, however, in the
amounts of N allocated to NH4+
assimilation and the vacuole
(
vac./ass.) and to the shoot
(
xylem).
vac./ass.
was 52% of incoming N in controls and approximately 45, 34.5, and 62%
after 1, 3, and 5 d, respectively, whereas
xylem was approximately 25, 31, 50, and 22%
of incoming N, respectively. These observed shifts in the allocation
pattern of N may reflect a redirection of N metabolism during
adaptation to hypoxia. Significant changes in amino acid profiles in
rice under hypoxic/anaerobic conditions have been documented by
Reggiani et al. ([1988]; also see above). These workers also found a
substantial accumulation of polyamines and speculated that these
compounds play a critical role in triggering shoot elongation beyond
the flooded zone (Reggiani et al., 1989
). The changes we observed in
13N transfer between the root and shoot might
indicate the transfer of such N compounds. The exact role of these N
shifts in the context of adaptation to hypoxia is unknown.
View this table:
Table I.
Component fluxes of NH4+ as
estimated from compartmental analysis (for derivation of flux
parameters and symbols, see text)
Rice seedlings were grown under steady-state nutritional conditions for
3 weeks prior to conducting efflux experiments. For each flux
component, the respective percentage of influx is indicated in
parentheses. Data are means ± se (n
6).
![]()
CONCLUSIONS
1). Both up- and down-regulation of
NH4+ influx were observed as
rice seedlings adapted to hypoxic conditions. These involve only
changes in Vmax for
NH4+ influx, whereas uptake
affinity for NH4+ (i.e.
Km) is unchanged. (b) An up-regulatory
response in NH4+ uptake in the
initial phases (first few hours) of hypoxia appears to occur in
response to cytoplasmic acidosis in rice. It is speculated that
additional N is supplied through plasma membrane influx to satisfy the
requirements for pH restoration, as related to the production of N
compounds, such as polyamines or
-aminobutyric acid. (c)
Reproducible changes in N allocation between different compartments
inside root cells and the shoot occur in response to hypoxia. (d)
[NH4+]cyt
under hypoxic as well as fully aerated conditions are high and at a
given external concentration appear to be maintained within a defined
range (15-20 mm at 0.1 mm
[NH4+]o).
At the cellular level such a high
[NH4+]cyt
illustrates the unique ability of rice plants to tolerate NH4+ as the sole N source, and
they point to the possibility of engineering transgenic rice plants
with higher N-utilization capacity by overexpressing genes coding for
NH4+-assimilation enzymes, such
as Asn synthetase or glutamate dehydrogenase. This is presently being
pursued at the International Rice Research Institute.
1
This work was supported by funds from the New
Frontier project grant to the International Rice Research Institute and
by a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grant to A.D.M.G.
![]()
FOOTNOTES
*
Corresponding author; e-mail aglass{at}unixg.ubc.ca; fax
1-604-822-6089.
![]()
ABBREVIATIONS
, symbol for NH4+ flux (see ``Materials and Methods'' for subscripts denoting component fluxes).
t1/2, half-life of exchange.
![]()
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
![]()
LITERATURE CITED
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results & Discussion
References
From Genetic Engineering to Field Practice.
Kluwer Academic Publishers, Wageningen, The Netherlands, pp 537-540
and NH4+ uptake process of rice roots by use of 15N-labelled NH4NO3.
Physiol Plant
18:
313-320
Nitrogen Relations.
Kluwer Academic Publishers, Wageningen, The Netherlands
influx in spruce.
Plant Physiol
109:
319-326
[Abstract]
From Genetic Engineering to Field Practice.
Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 533-536
Copyright Clearance Center: 0032-0889/98/116/0581/07
© 1998 American Society of Plant Physiologists
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