Inhibition of sulphur redistribution into new leaves of vegetative soybean by excision of the maturing leaf

Abstract

When soybean plants are pulsed with [35S]sulphate, label is subsequently redistributed from the roots to the leaves. This confounds studies to measure the redistribution of label from leaves. Accordingly, soybean plants (Glycine max [L.] Merr. cv. Stephens) were grown in 20 μM sulphate and a small portion of the root system (donor root) was pulsed with [35S]sulphate for 24 h. After removing the donor root, the plants were transferred into unlabelled solution, either without sulphate (S20→SO) or with 20 μM sulphate (S20→20) (intact plants). Also at this time, the expanding leaf (L3) was excised from half of the plants in each treatment (excised plants). Immediately after the pulse, only ca 15% of the label occurred in the roots and ca 40% in the expanding leaf, L3, mostly in the soluble fraction. In intact S20→20 plants, 35S‐label was exported from the soluble fraction of L3, mostly as sulphate, whilst L4 and L5 imported label. Similar responses occurred in S20→SO plants except that export of label from L3 was more rapid. Excision of L3 from S20→S20 plants inhibited labelling of leaves L4‐L6 but not total sulphur, whereas in S20→SO plants, excision of L3 inhibited the import of both total sulphur and 35S‐label in leaves L4, L5 and L6. The data suggest that the soluble fraction of almost fully expanded leaves is an important reserve of sulphur for redistribution to growing leaves. The 35S‐label in the root system exhibited fluctuations consistent with its proposed role in the recycling of soluble sulphur from the leaves.