Skip to main content
PMC home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1983 Jun;72(2):510–514. doi: 10.1104/pp.72.2.510

Soybean Mutants Lacking Constitutive Nitrate Reductase Activity 1

II. Nitrogen Assimilation, Chlorate Resistance, and Inheritance

Sarah A Ryan 1,2,2, Richard S Nelson 1,2, James E Harper 1,2
PMCID: PMC1066264  PMID: 16663033

Abstract

Nitrogen assimilation in three nitrate reductase (NR) mutants of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. cv Williams) was studied in the growth chamber and in the field. These mutants, LNR-2, LNR-3, and LNR-4, lack the non-NO3−-inducible or constitutive fraction of leaf NR activity found in wild-type plants, but this had no effect on the concentration of nitrogen accumulated when grown on NO3− in the growth chamber. Dry weight accumulation of two of the mutants (LNR-3 and LNR-4) was decreased relative to LNR-2 and wild type. In the field, LNR-2 had dry weights and nitrogen concentrations similar to the wild type at 34 and 61 days after planting, and at maturity. Acetylene reduction activities were also similar at 61 days.

Urea-grown LNR-2 seedlings lack both inducible and constitutive NR activity, and were resistant to four days of treatment with 0.5 mm ClO3−. Urea-grown wild-type seedlings, having only constitutive NR activity, developed ClO3− toxicity symptoms and suffered decreases in unifoliolate leaf NR activity and chlorophyll concentration. This suggests that (a) the reduction of ClO3− to ClO2− by NR is the major cause of ClO3− toxicity in soybeans and (b) the constitutive NR is active in situ.

Segregation of the F2 of reciprocal crosses between the wild type and the mutants indicated that absence of constitutive NR activity was controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene. Evolution of NO(x) gas was also absent in these mutants, and this was found to be inherited jointly with constitutive NR activity: in 346 segregants, no recombinants were found. Allelism tests between LNR-2 and LNR-3, and LNR-2 and LNR-4, indicated that the constitutive NR mutation was at the same locus in each mutant.

Full text

PDF
510

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Cove D. J. Genetic studies of nitrate assimilation in Aspergillus nidulans. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 1979 Aug;54(3):291–327. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-185x.1979.tb01014.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dailey F. A., Warner R. L., Somers D. A., Kleinhofs A. Characteristics of a Nitrate Reductase in a Barley Mutant Deficient in NADH Nitrate Reductase. Plant Physiol. 1982 May;69(5):1200–1204. doi: 10.1104/pp.69.5.1200. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Harper J. E. Canopy and Seasonal Profiles of Nitrate Reductase in Soybeans (Glycine max L. Merr.). Plant Physiol. 1972 Feb;49(2):146–154. doi: 10.1104/pp.49.2.146. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Harper J. E. Evolution of Nitrogen Oxide(s) during In Vivo Nitrate Reductase Assay of Soybean Leaves. Plant Physiol. 1981 Dec;68(6):1488–1493. doi: 10.1104/pp.68.6.1488. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. King J., Khanna V. A Nitrate Reductase-less Variant Isolated from Suspension Cultures of Datura innoxia (Mill.). Plant Physiol. 1980 Oct;66(4):632–636. doi: 10.1104/pp.66.4.632. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Murphy T. M., Imbrie C. W. Induction and Characterization of Chlorate-resistant Strains of Rosa damascena Cultured Cells. Plant Physiol. 1981 May;67(5):910–916. doi: 10.1104/pp.67.5.910. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Nelson R. S., Ryan S. A., Harper J. E. Soybean mutants lacking constitutive nitrate reductase activity : I. Selection and initial plant characterization. Plant Physiol. 1983 Jun;72(2):503–509. doi: 10.1104/pp.72.2.503. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Nicholas J. C., Harper J. E., Hageman R. H. Nitrate Reductase Activity in Soybeans (Glycine max [L.] Merr.): I. Effects of Light and Temperature. Plant Physiol. 1976 Dec;58(6):731–735. doi: 10.1104/pp.58.6.731. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Warner R. L. Nitrate Utilization by Nitrate Reductase-deficient Barley Mutants. Plant Physiol. 1981 Apr;67(4):740–743. doi: 10.1104/pp.67.4.740. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES