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Annals of Botany 89: 813-823, 2002
© 2002 Annals of Botany Company

Proline Metabolism and Transport in Maize Seedlings at Low Water Potential

MARJORIE J. RAYMOND0 and NICHOLAS SMIRNOFF*

0School of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, Washington Singer Laboratories, Perry Road, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK

* For correspondence. Fax +44 (0) 1392 264668, e-mail N.Smirnoff{at}exeter.ac.uk

Received: 30 October 2001; Returned for revision: 15 November 2001; Accepted: 11 January 2002.

The growing zone of maize seedling primary roots accumulates proline at low water potential. Endosperm removal and excision of root tips rapidly decreased the proline pool and greatly reduced proline accumulation in root tips at low water potential. Proline accumulation was not restored by exogenous amino acids. Labelling root tips with [14C]glutamate and [14C]proline showed that the rate of proline utilization (oxidation and protein synthesis) exceeded the rate of biosynthesis by five-fold at high and low water potentials. This explains the reduction in the proline pool following root and endosperm excision and the inability to accumulate proline at low water potential. The endosperm is therefore the source of the proline that accumulates in the root tips of intact seedlings. Proline constituted 10 % of the amino acids released from the endosperm. [14C]Proline was transported from the scutellum to other parts of the seedling and reached the highest concentration in the root tip. Less [14C]proline was transported at low water potential but because of the lower rate of protein synthesis and oxidation, more accumulated as proline in the root tip. Despite the low biosynthesis capacity of the roots, the extent of proline accumulation in relation to water potential is precisely controlled by transport and utilization rate.

Key words: Endosperm, maize, metabolism, proline, roots, scutellum, water stress, Zea mays.


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