Approaches for enhancement of N2 fixation efficiency of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under limiting nitrogen conditions

作者:Esfahani Maryam Nasr; Sulieman Saad; Schulze Joachim; Yamaguchi Shinozaki Kazuko; Shinozaki Kazuo; Lam Son Phan Tran*
来源:Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2014, 12(3): 387-397.
DOI:10.1111/pbi.12146

摘要

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is an important pulse crop in many countries in the world. The symbioses between chickpea and Mesorhizobia, which fix N-2 inside the root nodules, are of particular importance for chickpea's productivity. With the aim of enhancing symbiotic efficiency in chickpea, we compared the symbiotic efficiency of C-15, Ch-191 and CP-36 strains of Mesorhizobium ciceri in association with the local elite chickpea cultivar Bivanij' as well as studied the mechanism underlying the improvement of N-2 fixation efficiency. Our data revealed that C-15 strain manifested the most efficient N-2 fixation in comparison with Ch-191 or CP-36. This finding was supported by higher plant productivity and expression levels of the nifHDK genes in C-15 nodules. Nodule specific activity was significantly higher in C-15 combination, partially as a result of higher electron allocation to N(2)versus H+. Interestingly, a striking difference in nodule carbon and nitrogen composition was observed. Sucrose cleavage enzymes displayed comparatively lower activity in nodules established by either Ch-191 or CP-36. Organic acid formation, particularly that of malate, was remarkably higher in nodules induced by C-15 strain. As a result, the best symbiotic efficiency observed with C-15-induced nodules was reflected in a higher concentration of the total and several major amino metabolites, namely asparagine, glutamine, glutamate and aspartate. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that the improved efficiency in chickpea symbiotic system, established with C-15, was associated with the enhanced capacity of organic acid formation and the activities of the key enzymes connected to the nodule carbon and nitrogen metabolism.

  • 出版日期2014-4