title: Amino acid uptake in arbuscular mycorrhizal plants.
abstract: We examined the extent to which arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi root improved the acquisition of simple organic nitrogen (ON) compounds by their host plants. In a greenhouse-based study, we used quantum dots (fluorescent nanoparticles) to assess uptake of each of the 20 proteinaceous amino acids by AM-colonized versus uncolonized plants. We found that AM colonization increased uptake of phenylalanine, lysine, asparagine, arginine, histidine, methionine, tryptophan, and cysteine; and reduced uptake of aspartic acid. Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization had the greatest effect on uptake of amino acids that are relatively rare in proteins. In addition, AM fungi facilitated uptake of neutral and positively-charged amino acids more than negatively-charged amino acids. Overall, the AM fungi used in this study appeared to improve access by plants to a number of amino acids, but not necessarily those that are common or negatively-charged.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department and Institute for Species at Risk and Habitat Studies, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Whiteside
authors.forename: Maria O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Kathleen K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Treseder
mesh_terms: D024342:Amino Acids, Acidic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D024361:Amino Acids, Basic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D021542:Amino Acids, Neutral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D001692:Biological Transport; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000378:metabolism*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000737:chemistry; D045663:Quantum Dots; D045868:Sorghum / Q000378:metabolism*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D024342:Amino Acids, Acidic; D024361:Amino Acids, Basic; D021542:Amino Acids, Neutral; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D009584:Nitrogen