Hypoxic stress and the transport systems of the peribacteroid membrane of bean root nodules

Abstract

When the roots of Vicia faba L. beans were subjected to hypoxic stress, the activity of H(+)-ATPase on the peribacteroid membrane, as well as the transport of dicarboxylates (malate and succinate) mediated by this enzyme, decreased. Since malate and succinate are the main carbon-containing metabolites involved in the energy supply to bacteroids, this caused a change of the relation type from mutualism to commensalism, and the domination of the eukaryote over the prokaryote consequently increased.