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Plant Biol (Stuttg) 2004; 6(6): 702-707
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-821293
Original Paper

Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart KG · New York

Importance of N Source on Heat Stress Tolerance Due to the Accumulation of Proline and Quaternary Ammonium Compounds in Tomato Plants

R. M. Rivero1 , J. M. Ruiz2 , L. M. Romero2
  • 1University of Davis-California, Department of Pomology, Wickson Hall 1048, One Shields Avenue, Davis 95616, CA, USA
  • 2Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Further Information

Publication History

Received: November 17, 2003

Accepted: July 30, 2004

Publication Date:
20 October 2004 (online)

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Abstract

Proline and quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC), in addition to being N-rich, are known to accumulate in plants under different environmental stress conditions. The accumulation of N-rich compounds in plants has been shown to confer stress resistance. The aim of our work is two-fold: first, to study the influence of temperature on proline, QAC, and choline metabolism in tomato leaves; and second, to investigate the relationship between N source applied (NO3 - or NH4 +) and thermal stress resistance in these plants. To do this, experiments were conducted at three different temperatures (10 °C, 25 °C, 35 °C); at each temperature half of the plants received NO3 -, and the other half received NH4 +. At 35 °C the plants had the lowest biomass production with respect to 25 °C (optimal temperature) and 10 °C (cold stress), suggesting that tomato plants were most affected by heat stress. At 35 °C, there were also high levels of choline and proline due to the activation of Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS) and ornithine aminotransferase (OAT), and simultaneous inhibition of proline dehydrogenase (PDH) and proline oxidase (PO). However, plants with NH4 + as the N source exhibited reduced growth with respect to the plants fed with NO3 -. This is interesting because, under heat stress (35 °C), biomass production, as well as proline and choline accumulation, in NH4 + fed plants was higher than in NO3 - fed plants. From this, we concluded that tomato plants fed with NH4 + as the N source show higher tolerance to heat stress (35 °C) than plants fed with NO3 -.

Key words

Choline - heat stress - Lycopersicon esculentum L. - N source - proline - quaternary ammonium compounds

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R. M. Rivero

University of Davis-California
Department of Pomology
Wickson Hall 1048

One Shields Avenue

Davis, CA 95616

USA

Email: rmrivero@ucdavis.edu

Editor: J. T. M. Elzenga