Em. Gonzalez et al., Abscisic acid induces a decline in nitrogen fixation that involves leghaemoglobin, but is independent of sucrose synthase activity, J EXP BOT, 52(355), 2001, pp. 285-293
Sucrose synthase (SS) activity has been suggested to be a key point of regu
lation in nodule metabolism since this enzyme is down-regulated in response
to different stresses which lead to decreased nitrogen fixation. In soybea
n, a dramatic decline of SS transcripts has been observed within 1 d from t
he onset of drought. Such a quick response suggests mediation by a signal t
ransduction molecule. Abscisic acid (ABA) is a likely candidate to act as s
uch a molecule as it mediates in a significant number of plant responses to
environmental constraints. The hypothesis of ABA controlling nodule metabo
lism was approached in this work by assessing nodule responses to exogenous
ABA supply in pea. Under the experimental conditions, ABA did not affect p
lant biomass, nodule numbers or dry weight, However, nitrogen fixation rate
was reduced by 70% within 5 d and by 80% after 9 d leading to a reduced pl
ant organic nitrogen content. Leghaemoglobin (Lb) content declined in paral
lel with that of nitrogen fixation, SS activity, however, was not affected
by ABA treatment, and neither were the activities of the enzymes aspartate
amino transferase, alkaline invertase, malate dehydrogenase, glutamate synt
hase, uridine diphosphoglucose pyrophosphorylase, isocitrate dehydrogenase,
and glutamine synthetase, Nodule bacteroid-soluble protein content was red
uced in nodules only after 9 d of ABA treatment. These results do not suppo
rt the hypothesis that ABA directly regulates SS activity. However, they do
suggest the occurrence of at least two different control pathways in nodul
es under environmental constraints, which include ABA being involved in a L
bl oxygen-related control of nitrogen fixation.