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The N-metabolites of roots and actinorhizal nodules from Alnus glutinosa and Datisca glomerata: can D. glomerata change N-transport forms when nodulated?

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The Original Article was published on 22 January 2016

Abstract

To gain more insight in nitrogen metabolism in actinorhizal nodules, a comparison between the N metabolite profiles in roots vs. nodules was initiated for one host plant from the best-examined order of actinorhizal plants, Fagales, A. glutinosa (Betulaceae), a temperate tree, and one host plant from the Cucurbitales order, Datisca glomerata (Datiscaceae). For both symbioses, the symbiotic transcriptomes have been published and can be used to assess the expression of genes representing specific metabolic pathways in nodules. The amino acid profiles of roots in this study suggest that A. glutinosa transported aspartate, glutamate and citrulline in the xylem, a combination of nitrogenous solutes not published previously for this species. The amino acid profiles of D. glomerata roots depended on whether the plants were nodulated or grown on nitrate; roots of nodulated plants contained increased amounts of arginine. Although bacterial transcriptome data showed no symbiotic auxotrophy for branched chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, valine) in either symbiosis, D. glomerata nodules contained comparatively high levels of these amino acids. This might represent a response to osmotic stress.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Peter Litfors for taking care of the plants in Stockholm and Pascale Fournier for A. glutinosa growth experiments and harvesting of roots and nodules. This work was funded by grants from the Swedish Research Council Formas (229-2005-679) and the Carl Tryggers Foundation to KP, by a grant from the French ANR (Sesam ANR-10-BLAN-1708 and BugsInACell ANR-13-BSV7-0013-03), to PN, and by USDA CA-D* PLS-2173-H to AMB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Tomas Persson, Thanh Van Nguyen & Katharina Pawlowski

  2. Université Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, CNRS, Ecologie Microbienne UMR5557, Cedex 69622, Villeurbanne, France

    Nicole Alloisio, Petar Pujic & Philippe Normand

  3. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Alison M. Berry

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  1. Tomas Persson
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  2. Thanh Van Nguyen
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Correspondence to Katharina Pawlowski.

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Presented at the 18th International Meeting on Frankia and Actinorhizal Plants (ACTINO2015), August 24–27, 2015, Montpellier, France

The online version of the original article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13199-016-0379-x.

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Persson, T., Van Nguyen, T., Alloisio, N. et al. The N-metabolites of roots and actinorhizal nodules from Alnus glutinosa and Datisca glomerata: can D. glomerata change N-transport forms when nodulated?. Symbiosis 70, 149–157 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-016-0407-x

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