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Adenosine stimulates anabolic metabolism in developing castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) cotyledons

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Abstract

In previous experiments it was shown that Castor-bean (Ricinus communis) endosperm releases carbohydrates, amino acids and nucleoside derivatives, which are subsequently imported into the developing cotyledons (Kombrink and Beevers in Plant Physiol 73:370–376, 1983). To investigate the importance of the most prominent nucleoside adenosine for the metabolism of growing Ricinus seedlings, we supplied adenosine to cotyledons of 5-days-old seedlings after removal of the endosperm. This treatment led to a 16% increase in freshweight of intact seedlings within 16 h, compared to controls. Using detached cotyledons, we followed uptake of radiolabelled adenosine and identified 40% of label in solubles (mostly ATP and ADP), 46% incorporation in RNA and 2.5% in DNA, indicating a highly active salvage pathway. About 7% of freshly imported adenosine entered the phloem, which indicates a major function of adenosine for cotyledon metabolism. Import and conversion of adenosine improved the energy content of cotyledons as revealed by a substantially increased ATP/ADP ratio. This effect was accompanied by slight increases in respiratory activity, decreased levels of hexose phosphates and increased levels of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate and triose phosphates. These alterations indicate a stimulation of glycolytic flux by activation of phosphofructokinase, and accordingly we determined a higher activity of this enzyme. Furthermore the rate of [14C]-sucrose driven starch biosynthesis in developing castor-bean is significantly increased by feeding of adenosine. In conclusion, our data indicate that adenosine imported from mobilizing endosperm into developing castor-bean cotyledons fulfils an important function as it promotes anabolic reactions in this rapidly developing tissue.

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Abbreviations

Ado:

Adenosine

Uri:

Uridine

Fru-1,6-bisP:

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate

DHAP:

Dihydroxyacetone-phosphate

GAP:

Glycerinealdehyde-3-phosphate

Glc1P:

Glucose-1-phosphate

Glc6P:

Glucose-6-phosphate

Fru6P:

Fructose-6-phosphate

PGA:

3-phosphoglyceric-acid

PEP:

Phosphoenol-pyruvate

PFK:

Phosphofructokinase

HK:

Hexokinase

Glc6P-DH:

Glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase

AK:

Adenosine-kinase

APRT:

Adenine phosphoribosyl-transferase

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Arabidopsis Functional Genomics Network, AFGN). We thank Katja Abel for excellent support during feeding experiments.

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Author notes

  1. Marc Zimmermann

    Present address: Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1312, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pflanzenphysiologie, Universität Kaiserslautern, Postfach 3049, 67653, Kaiserslautern, Germany

    Martin Flörchinger, Marc Zimmermann, Michaela Traub, H. Ekkehard Neuhaus & Torsten Möhlmann

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  1. Martin Flörchinger
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  2. Marc Zimmermann
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  3. Michaela Traub
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  4. H. Ekkehard Neuhaus
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  5. Torsten Möhlmann
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Torsten Möhlmann.

Additional information

Martin Flörchinger and Marc Zimmermann contributed equally to this work.

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Flörchinger, M., Zimmermann, M., Traub, M. et al. Adenosine stimulates anabolic metabolism in developing castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) cotyledons. Planta 223, 340–348 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-005-0091-1

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