Abstract
Rapid effects of boron (B) starvation were investigated in squash (Cucurbita pepo) and bean (Vicia faba) roots. A transitory decrease of the cell wall elastic modulus (ε) and a concomitant increase of the cell hydraulic conductivity up to fourfold have been observed by measurement with the cell pressure probe. This is in line with a putative role of B in determinating the cell wall physical parameters by the formation of cross links in the pectate fraction.
A secondary rehardening of the cell wall was observed as well as a reduction of the hydraulic conductivity after 20 minutes. This implies that secondary effects become apparent soon after B deprivation. No loss of turgor occurred during the experimental period of up to 45 minutes. Taken together with the recovery of the hydraulic conductivity within 45 minutes, this clearly indicates that membrane desintegration and leakage are secondary or tertiary effects of B deficiency.
Plasmalemma-bound inducible reductase activity was reduced in V. faba root sections within 5 minutes after starting the deficiency treatment and showed some relation to the concentration of free boric acid in the external medium. When increasing the external concentration of boric acid, binding of Ca2+ to the negatively charged borate complexes was probably counteracted by a concomitant enhancement of proton release under our experimental conditions.
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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Findeklee, P., Wimmer, M., Goldbach, H.E. (1997). Early effects of boron deficiency on physical cell wall parameters, hydraulic conductivity and plasmalemma-bound reductase activities in young C. pepo and V. faba roots. In: Bell, R.W., Rerkasem, B. (eds) Boron in Soils and Plants. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 76. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5564-9_43
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5564-9_43
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