title: Comparative study of Zn deficiency in L. sativa and B. oleracea plants: NH4(+) assimilation and nitrogen derived protective compounds.
abstract: Zinc (Zn) deficiency is a major problem in agricultural crops of many world regions. N metabolism plays an essential role in plants and changes in their availability and their metabolism could seriously affect crop productivity. The main objective of the present work was to perform a comparative analysis of different strategies against Zn deficiency between two plant species of great agronomic interest such as Lactuca sativa cv. Phillipus and Brassica oleracea cv. Bronco. For this, both species were grown in hydroponic culture with different Zn doses: 10μM Zn as control and 0.01μM Zn as deficiency treatment. Zn deficiency treatment decreased foliar Zn concentration, although in greater extent in B. oleracea plants, and caused similar biomass reduction in both species. Zn deficiency negatively affected NO3(-) reduction and NH4(+) assimilation and enhanced photorespiration in both species. Pro and GB concentrations were reduced in L. sativa but they were increased in B. oleracea. Finally, the AAs profile changed in both species, highlighting a great increase in glycine (Gly) concentration in L. sativa plants. We conclude that L. sativa would be more suitable than B. oleracea for growing in soils with low availability of Zn since it is able to accumulate a higher Zn concentration in leaves with similar biomass reduction. However, B. oleracea is able to accumulate N derived protective compounds to cope with Zn deficiency stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain. Electronic address: enleon@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Eloy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Navarro-León
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Yurena
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Barrameda-Medina
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Napoli "Federico II", Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, Via Cinthia, 80126 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lentini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Napoli "Federico II", Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, Via Cinthia, 80126 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Esposito
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Begoña
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blasco
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D064751:Ammonium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*; D001937:Brassica / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D018545:Lactuca / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D009566:Nitrates / Q000378:metabolism; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D064751:Ammonium Compounds; D009566:Nitrates; D015032:Zinc; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Brassica oleracea; Glycinebetaine; Lactuca sativa; N metabolism; Proline; Zn deficiency