Effects of Ca2+and Cd2+on the Carbohydrate Metabolism in Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris)
- 1 February 1992
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Journal of Experimental Botany
- Vol. 43 (2) , 167-173
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/43.2.167
Abstract
Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. cv. Monohill) were cultivated in a nutrient solution with different combinations of Ca2+ (36, 180, 720 or 3560μM) and Cd2+ (0, 1, 5 or 20μM). The dry and fresh weights, the content of Ca2+ and Cd2+ , sucrose, fructose, glucose and starch in 5-week-old plants was analysed as well as the rate of [14C]-sucrose uptake in discs from 3-month-old storage roots. The carbohydrate metabolism was indirectly affected by the presence of calcium or cadmium. Cadmium caused a diminished dry weight and carbohydrate concentration. The dry weight was unaffected by the Ca2+ level but the carbohydrate distribution between storage and growth processes was affected; at low Ca2+ in the tissue, the growth was retarded and the level of storage carbohydrate increased, while at high Ca2+ the opposite was found. The [14C]-sucrose uptake decreased in tap roots cultivated at low Ca2+ . Long term exposure to Cd2+ also decreased the sucrose uptake in tap roots. Direct Cd2+ addition to the assay medium, however, increased the sucrose uptake, probably at the tonoplast, while Ca2+ had no transient effect on the uptake. Cadmium increased the Ca2+ concentration in the plant, but Ca2+ did not affect the net-uptake of Cd2+.Keywords
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