Amino acid accumulation in sink and source tissues of Coleus blumei Benth. during salinity stress

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyse the accumulation of amino acid in source and sink tissues of variegated Coleus blumei Benth. leaves during an extended exposure to salinity stress. The imposed stress resulted in a reduction in shoot height and leaf size, as well as a reduction in total protein and nitrogen content in both the sink and source tissues. At the same time, accumulation of low molecular weight nitrogen-containing compounds in Coleus leaves was observed, which peaked within the first 10 d of exposure to salinity, and then declined, but remained slightly elevated for the remainder of the study. A number of amino acids were found to accumulate in both the sink and source tissues, including arginine, asparagine, and serine. A larger proportion of asparagine and less arginine was observed in the sink tissue than the source tissue of the salinity-stressed plants. This difference may reflect the mobility of these compounds in the phloem. No proline was found to accumulate in either the source or sink tissue during the exposure to salinity. From the pulse-chase labelling of stressed Coleus leaves it can deduced that some of the observed accumulation of amino acids and amides observed is due to de novo synthesis and not simply the result of protein degradation.