Iron nutrition of plants and interactions with vascular wilt disease and light

Abstract

The relationship between iron nutritional status and Verticillium Wilt disease in tomato possessing single gene resistance to Race 1 of Verticillium dahliae was investigated using hydroponic culture media. Iron limiting conditions increased the sensitivity of resistant tomatoes to the pathogen as expressed by wilting and chlorosis. Distance of fungal vascular invasion was approximately the same in both iron replete and iron limited treatments. Comparison of near-isolines revealed that the magnitude of disease expressed in Fe deficient Pixie II (resistant) was considerably less than that expressed by the susceptible Pixie variety. Infection of tomato did not enhance iron stress severity as quantified by root peroxidase activity and chlorophyll content of young leaves. The release of iron from horse spleen ferritin through photochemical reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) was studied in vitro. Spectrophotometric measurement of the Fe(ferrozine)3^2+ complex (specific for Fe(II)) was used to quantify rates of Fe mobilization: Cool white fluorescent plus incandescent light effectively promoted the rate of Fe release. Compounds known to be present in plants may provide further regulation of photorelease. Reductive removal from ferritin was inhibited by phosphate, and hydroxide, whereas citrate, oxalate, tartrate, and caffeate enhanced the release. Of the organic acids studied, caffeate was the only compound which induced detectable Fe release in the absence of irradiation. Rate constants ranged from 2.7 x 10^-3 sec^-1 (pH = 4.6) to 2.1 x 10^-3 sec^-1 (pH = 7.1) at 26.5°C. Synthesis of the photosynthetic apparatus is dependent on both light and iron. Thus, the findings provide one possible mechanism coupling chloroplast iron demand with iron release from ferritin. Treatments known to alter either phenolic metabolism or overall enzyme activity were utilized to examine the Fe reductive mechanisms involved in iron stress response at the roots. Although specific compounds caused elevation of internal o-dihydroxyphenol content, the overall root reduction capacity of Fe stressed plants was significantly suppressed. However, plant roots retained significant capacity to reduce Fe after tissues were subjected to severe protein denaturizing treatments. Thus, indications for both secreted reductant and enzymatic reduction mechanisms were observed.