Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Plant Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #68887
Title: DEVELOPMENTAL AND METABOLIC ADAPTATIONS OF WHITE LUPIN ROOTS IN RESPONSE TO PHOSPHORUS STRESS

Author
item JOHNSON, JANE - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item ALLAN, DEBORAH - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item Vance, Carroll

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/3/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: White lupin (Lupinus albus L.) develops proteoid or cluster root morphology when subjected to low phosphorus (P) stress. These densely clustered, short lateral roots are the site of substantial citrate exudation, resulting in increased P availability. The goal of these experiments was to understand the developmental and metabolic adaptations of lupin roots to oP stress. In vitro specific activities of citrate synthase, malate dehydrogenase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) and in vivo nonphotosynthetic 14CO2 fixation were higher in excised proteoid roots compared to normal roots. The majority of the 14C fixed in excised and intact roots was detected in citrate and malate. Shoots or roots of intact plants were labeled with 14CO2 to determine the relative contribution of C fixed in shoots and roots to exuded citrate. About 25 fold more acid stable 14C, primarily in citrate and malate, was exuded from the roots of -P treated plants compared to +P treated plants. Nonphotosynthetic C fixation in roots contributed about 25 and 34% of the C exuded as citrate and as malate, respectively, from -P treated plants. Proteoid root meristems could be seen arising from the pericycle six days after shoot emergence (DAE) and were emerged by nine DAE. The development of proteoid roots preceded the increases in PEPC mRNA concentration, PEPC enzyme, and PEPC specific activity in proteoid roots compared to normal roots. The increase in PEPC mRNA was prior to, and the increase in PEPC enzyme was coincident with, increased PEPC specific activity, indicating that PEPC is in part under transcriptional regulation. Citrate and malate were detected in root exudates coincidentally with increased specific activity of PEPC in the proteoid roots compared to the normal roots.