The shoot is important for high-affinity nitrate uptake in Egeria densa, a submerged vascular plant

Abstract

To understand the mechanisms of nitrate uptake by submerged vascular plants, a cDNA for a high-affinity nitrate transporter, NRT2, was isolated from Egeria densa, a submerged monocot. The deduced EdNRT2 protein was similar to the proteins of a conserved NRT2 group in higher plants. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR analysis revealed that after feeding whole plants with 0.2 mM nitrate, the EdNRT2 transcripts were induced in both shoots and roots within 0.5 h, reached the maximum by 1-3 h and then decreased. The EdNRT2 transcript levels in shoots were comparable to those in roots. When nitrate was applied separately to shoots and roots, the EdNRT2 transcripts were induced only in nitrate-treated organs and reached the maximum levels comparable to those in organs when nitrate was applied to whole plants. (15)N-nitrate feeding experiments demonstrated that both shoots and roots are responsible for nitrate uptake and that biomass and (15)N content in shoots was even higher than that in roots. We concluded that EdNRT2 is involved in high-affinity nitrate uptake by shoots and roots of E. densa, that nitrate is taken up independently by shoots and roots and that shoots play an important role in nitrate uptake from aquatic ecosystem.