Ammonium Nutrition in Ricinus communis: Its Effect on Plant Growth and the Chemical Composition of the Whole Plant, Xylem and Phloem Saps |
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Authors: | ALLEN, SUSAN SMITH, J. A. C. |
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Abstract: | Allen, S. and Smith, J A. C. 1986. Ammonium nutrition in Ricinuscommunis: its effect on plantgrowth and the chemical compositionof the whole plant, xylem and phloem saps.J. exp. Bot.37: 15991610. The growth and chemical composition of Ricinus communis cultivatedhydroponically on 12 mol m 3 NO3-N were comparedwith plants raised on a range of NH4+-N concentrations. At NH4+-Nconcentrations between 0·5 and 4·0 mol m3,fresh- and dry-weight yields of 62-d-old plants were not significantlydifferent from those of the NO3-N controls. Growth wasreduced at 0·2 mol m3 NH4+-N and was associatedwith increased root. shoot and C: organic N ratios, suggestingthat the plants were N-limited. At 8·0 mol m3NH4+-N, growth was greatly restricted and the plants exhibitedsymptoms of severe NH4+ toxicity. Plants growingon NH4+-N showed marked acidification of the rooting medium,this effect being greatest on media supporting the highest growthrates. Shoot carboxylate content per unit dry weight was lower at mostNH4+-N concentrations than in the NO3-N controls, althoughit increased at the lowest NH4+-N levels. Root carboxylate contentwas comparable on the two N sources, but also increased substantiallyat the lowest NH4+-N levels. N source had little effect on inorganic-cationcontent at the whole-plant level, while NO3 and carboxylatewere replaced by Cl as the dominant anion in the NH4+-N plants.This was reflected in the ionic composition of the xylem andleaf-cell saps, the latter containing about 100 mol m3Cl in plants on 8·0 mol m3 NH4+. Xylem-saporganic-N concentration increased more than threefold with NH4+-N(with glutamine being the dominant compound irrespective ofN source) while in leaf-cell sap it increased more than 12-foldon NH4+-N media (with arginine becoming the dominant species).In the phloem, N source had little or no effect on inorganic-cation,sucrose or organic-N concentrations or sap pH, but sap fromNH4+-N plants contained high levels of Cl and serine. Collectively, the results suggested that the toxic effects ofhigh NH4+ concentrations were not the result of medium acidification,reduced inorganic-cation or carboxylate levels, or restrictedcarbohydrate availability, as is commonly supposed. Rather,NH4+ toxicity in R. communis is probably the result of changesin protein N turnover and impairment of the photorespiratoryN cycle. Key words: Ricinus, ammonium nutrition, nitrate, whole-plant composition, xylem, Phloem, amino acids, carboxylate |
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