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Nitrate induction of root hydraulic conductivity in maize is not correlated with aquaporin expression

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Abstract

Some plant species can increase the mass flow of water from the soil to the root surface in response to the appearance of nitrate in the rhizosphere by increasing root hydraulic conductivity. Such behavior can be seen as a powerful strategy to facilitate the uptake of nitrate in the patchy and dynamically changing soil environment. Despite the significance of such behavior, little is known about the dynamics and mechanism of this phenomenon. Here we examine root hydraulic response of nitrate starved Zea mays (L.) plants after a sudden exposure to 5 mM NO3 − solution. In all cases the treatment resulted in a significant increase in pressure-induced (pressure gradient ~ 0.2 MPa) flow across the root system by ~50% within 4 h. Changes in osmotic gradient across the root were approximately 0.016 MPa (or 8.5%) and thus the results could only be explained by a true change in root hydraulic conductance. Anoxia treatment significantly reduced the effect of nitrate on xylem root hydraulic conductivity indicating an important role for aquaporins in this process. Despite a 1 h delay in the hydraulic response to nitrate treatment, we did not detect any change in the expression of six ZmPIP1 and seven ZmPIP2 genes, strongly suggesting that NO3 − ions regulate root hydraulics at the protein level. Treatments with sodium tungstate (nitrate reductase inhibitor) aimed at resolving the information pathway regulating root hydraulic properties resulted in unexpected findings. Although this treatment blocked nitrate reductase activity and eliminated the nitrate-induced hydraulic response, it also produced changes in gene expression and nitrate uptake levels, precluding us from suggesting that nitrate acts on root hydraulic properties via the products of nitrate reductase.

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Abbreviations

NR:

Nitrate reductase

ZmPIP :

Zea mays plasma membrane intrinsic protein gene

FAD:

Flavin adenine dinucleotide

DTT:

Dithiothreitol

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Research Initiative of the USDA-CREES grant number 2005-35100-16057.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Anna Gorska & Maciej A. Zwieniecki

  2. Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Anna Zwieniecka & N. Michele Holbrook

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  1. Anna Gorska
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  2. Anna Zwieniecka
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  3. N. Michele Holbrook
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  4. Maciej A. Zwieniecki
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Correspondence to Maciej A. Zwieniecki.

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Gorska, A., Zwieniecka, A., Michele Holbrook, N. et al. Nitrate induction of root hydraulic conductivity in maize is not correlated with aquaporin expression. Planta 228, 989–998 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-008-0798-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-008-0798-x

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