Increases in Phosphorus Requirements for CO(2)-Enriched Pine Species.

Pinus radiata D. Don (half-sib families 20010 and 20062) and Pinus caribaea var hondurensis (an open-pollinated family) were grown for 49 weeks at seven levels of phosphorus and at CO(2) concentrations of either 340 or 660 microliters per liter, to establish if the phosphorus requirements differed between the CO(2) concentrations and if mycorrhizal associations were affected. When soil phosphorus availability was low, phosphorus uptake was increased by elevated CO(2). This may have been related to changes in mycorrhizal competition. When the phosphorus concentration in the youngest fully expanded needles was above 600 milligrams per kilogram the shoot weight of all pine families was greater at high CO(2) due to increases in rates of photosynthesis. More dry weight was partitioned to the stems of P. radiata family 20010 and P. caribaea. At foliar phosphorus concentrations above 1000 milligrams per kilogram (P. radiata) and 700 milligrams per kilogram (P. caribaea), growth did not increase at 340 microliters of CO(2) per liter. Soluble sugar levels in the same needles mirrored the growth response, but the starch concentration declined with increasing phosphorus. At 660 microliters of CO(2) per liter, shoot weight and soluble sugar concentrations were still increasing up to a foliar P concentration of 1800 milligrams per kilogram for P. radiata and 1600 milligrams per kilogram for P. caribaea. The starch concentrations did not decline. These results indicate that higher foliar phosphorus concentrations are required to realize the maximum growth potential of pines at elevated CO(2).

Ethylene enhances reactivity of superoxide with peroxidase to form the oxy-ferrous complex.

Ethylene and its analogues acetylene, carbon monoxide, and propylene inhibited the rate of oxidation of indole-3-acetic acid by peroxidase. Annulment of this effect by addition of superoxide dismutase showed that inhibition occurred only in the presence of the superoxide anion radical (O2-.). Kinetic and spectral data established that ethylene and its analogues enhanced markedly the rate of reaction of O2-. with peroxidase. This reaction resulted in the formation of compound III, an oxy-ferrous complex of peroxidase. In the presence of indole-3-acetic acid, the interaction between ethylene, peroxidase, and O2-. activated the reduced peroxidase in equilibrium compound III shuttle. O2-. is a major product of this shuttle, and compound III constitutes the dominant steady-state form of peroxidase. These interactions may help to explain the mechanism of action of ethylene as a plant growth regulator.

Oxidation of indole-3-acetic acid by peroxidase: involvement of reduced peroxidase and compound III with superoxide as a product.

Kinetic and spectral data establish that peroxidase may oxidize indole-3-acetic acid by either of two pathways depending on the enzyme/substrate ratio. When relatively low enzyme/substrate ratios are employed, the oxidation proceeds through a reduced peroxidase in equilibrium compound III shuttle. Conversely, peroxidase operates through the conventionally accepted pathway involving native enzyme and compounds I and II only when high enzyme/substrate ratios are used. Compound III, a specific oxidase, constitutes the dominant steady-state form of peroxidase when the reduced peroxidase in equilibrium compound III shuttle is operational. Activation of this shuttle also produces a flux of superoxide anion radical at the expense of molecular oxygen. Thus, important biological consequences may follow activation of this shuttle under physiological conditions.