Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Soybeans/metabolism/physiology”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

The relationship between water binding and desiccation tolerance in tissues

In an effort to define the nature of desiccation tolerance, a comparison of the water sorption characteristics was made between tissues that were resistant and tissues that were sensitive to desiccation. Water sorption isotherms were constructed for germinated and ungerminated soybean axes and also for fronds of several species of Polypodium with varying tolerance to dehydration. The strength of water binding was determined by van't Hoff as well as D'Arcy/Watt analyses of the isotherms at 5, 15, and/or 25 degrees C. Tissues which were sensitive to desiccation had a poor capacity to bind water tightly. Tightly bound water can be removed from soybean and pea seeds by equilibration at 35 degrees C over very low relative humidities; this results in a reduction in the viability of the seed. We suggest that region 1 water (i.e. water bound with very negative enthalpy values) is an important component of desiccation tolerance.

NASA Discipline Number 40-10↗

Water binding in legume seeds

The physical status of water in seeds has a pivotal role in determining the physiological reactions that can take place in the dry state. Using water sorption isotherms from cotyledon and axis tissue of five leguminous seeds, the strength of water binding and the numbers of binding sites have been estimated using van't Hoff analyses and the D'Arcy/Watt equation. These parameters of water sorption are calculated for each of the three regions of water binding and for a range of temperatures. Water sorption characteristics are reflective of the chemical composition of the biological materials as well as the temperature at which hydration takes place. Changes in the sorption characteristics with temperature and hydration level may suggest hydration-induced structural changes in cellular components.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗

Cyclic variations in nitrogen uptake rate of soybean plants: effects of pH and mixed nitrogen sources

To determine if the daily pattern of NO3- and NH4+ uptake is affected by acidity or NO3- : NH4+ ratio of the nutrient solution, non-nodulated soybean plants (Glycine max) were exposed for 21 days to replenished, complete nutrient solutions at pH 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, and 4.5 which contained either 1.0 mM NH4+, 1.0 mM NO3- [correction of NO3+], 0.67 mM NH4+ plus 0.33 mM NO3- (2:1 NH4+ : NO3-) [correction of (2:1 NH3+ : NO4-)], or 0.33 mM NH4+ plus 0.67 mM NO3- (1:2 NH4+ : NO3-). Net uptake rates of NH4+ and NO3- were measured daily by ion chromatography as depletion from the replenished solutions. When NH4+ and NO3- were supplied together, cumulative uptake of total nitrogen was not affected by pH or solution NH4+ : NO3- ratio. The cumulative proportion of nitrogen absorbed as NH4+ decreased with increasing acidity; however, the proportional uptake of NH4+ and NO3- was not constant, but varied day-to-day. This day-to-day variation in relative proportions of NH4+ and NO3- absorbed when NH4+ : NO3- ratio and pH of solution were constant indicates that the regulatory mechanism is not directly competitive. Regardless of the effect of pH on cumulative uptake of NH4+, the specific nitrogen uptake rates from mixed and from individual NH4+ and NO3- sources oscillated between maxima and minima at each pH with average periodicities similar to the expected interval of leaf emergence.

Non-NASA Center↗

Ammonium and nitrate uptake by soybean during recovery from nitrogen deprivation

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] plants that had been subjected to 15 d of nitrogen deprivation were resupplied for 10 d with 1.0 mol m-3 nitrogen provided as NO3-, NH4+, or NH4(+) + NO3- in flowing hydroponic culture. Plants in a fourth hydroponic system received 1.0 mol m-3 NO3- during both stress and resupply periods. Concentrations of soluble carbohydrates and organic acids in roots increased 210 and 370%, respectively, during stress. For the first day of resupply, however, specific uptake rates of nitrogen, determined by ion chromatography as depletion from solution, were lower for stressed than for non-stressed plants by 43% for NO3- resupply, by 32% for NH4(+) + NO3- resupply, and 86% for NH4+ resupply. When specific uptake of nitrogen for stressed plants recovered to rates for non-stressed plants at 6 to 8 d after nitrogen resupply, carbohydrates and organic acids in their roots had declined to concentrations lower than those of non-stressed plants. Recovery of nitrogen uptake capacity of roots thus does not appear to be regulated simply by the content of soluble carbon compounds within roots. Solution concentrations of NH4+ and NO3- were monitored at 62.5 min intervals during the first 3 d of resupply. Intermittent 'hourly' intervals of net influx and net efflux occurred. Rates of uptake during influx intervals were greater for the NH4(+)-resupplied than for the NO3(-)-resupplied plants. For NH4(+)-resupplied plants, however, the hourly intervals of efflux were more numerous than for NO3(-)-resupplied plants. It thus is possible that, instead of repressing NH4+ influx, increased accumulation of amino acids and NH4+ in NH4(+)-resupplied plants inhibited net uptake by stimulation of efflux on NH4+ absorbed in excess of availability of carbon skeletons for assimilation. Entry of NH4+ into root cytoplasm appeared to be less restricted than translocation of amino acids from the cytoplasm into the xylem.

NASA Discipline Number 61-10↗

Responses of soybean to ammonium and nitrate supplied in combination to the whole root system or separately in a split-root system

To address the questions of whether allocation of carbohydrates to roots is influenced by ionic form of nitrogen absorbed and whether allocation of carbohydrates to roots in turn influences proportionality between NH4+ and NO3- uptake from mixed sources, NH4+ and NO3- were supplied separately to halves of a split-root hydroponic system and were supplied in combination to a whole-root system. Dry matter accumulation in the split-root system was 18% less in the NH4(+)-fed axis than in the NO3(-)-fed axis. This, however, does not indicate that partitioning of carbohydrate between the two axes was different. Most of the reduction in dry matter accumulation in the NH4(+)-fed axis can be accounted for by the retransport of CH2O equivalents from the root back to the shoot with amino acids produced by NH4+ assimilation. Uptake of NH4+ or NO3- by the respective halves of the split-root system was proportional to the estimated allocation of carbohydrate to that half. When NH4+ and NO3- were supplied to separate halves of the split-root system, the cumulative NH4+ to NO3- uptake ratio was 0.81. When supplied in combination to the whole-root system, the cumulative NH4+ to NO3- uptake ratio was 1.67. Thus, while the shoot may affect total nitrogen uptake through the export of carbohydrates to roots, the shoot (common for halves of the split-root system) apparently does not exert a direct effect on proportionality of NH4+ and NO3- uptake by roots. For whole roots supplied with both NH4+ and NO3-, the restriction in uptake of NO3- may involve a stimulation of NO3- efflux rather than an inhibition of NO3- influx. While only the net uptake of NH4+ and NO3- was measured by ion chromatography, monitoring at approximately hourly intervals during the first 3 days of treatment revealed irregularly occurring intervals of both depletion (net influx) and enrichment (net efflux) in solutions. In the case of NH4+, numbers of net efflux events were similar (21 to 24 out of 65 sequential sampling intervals) whether NH4+ was supplied with NO3- to whole-root systems or separately to an axis of the split-root system. In the case of NO3-, however, the number of net efflux events increased from 8 when NO3- was supplied to a separate axis of the split-root system to between 19 and 24 when NO3- was supplied with NH4+ to whole-root systems.

Non-NASA Center↗