The Effect of Salt Stress on the Catabolism of Sugars in Leaves and Roots of a Mangrove Plant, Avicennia marina

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Abstract Respiration and related aspects of metabolism were investigated in the roots and leaves of 2-year-old trees of the mangrove plant, Avicennia marina in the presence of 100, 250 and 500 mᴍ NaCl. The rate of respiration of leaves increased with increasing concentrations of NaCl in the incubation medium, but respiration of roots was not similarly affected. In order to examine the relative rates of catabolism of glucose by the glycolysis-tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (PP pathway), we determined the rates of release of 14CO2 from [1-14C]glucose and from [ 6 -14C]glucose in segments of roots and leaves. The ratios of rates (C6/C1) in roots varied from 0.30 to 0.44, while ratios of 0.85 to 0.99 were obtained when leaves were incubated in the presence of various concentrations of NaCl. It appeared that the PP pathway was more involved in sugar catabolism in the roots than in the leaves of A. marina. Uniformaly 14C-labelled sucrose, incubated with segments of roots and leaves for 18 h, was converted to CO2, amino acids (mainly glutamine), organic acids (mainly malic acid), sugars and ethanol-insoluble macromolecules. The incorporation of radioactivity into most of these components was not significantly affected by NaCl. However, in leaves (but not in roots) the release of 14CO2 from [ U -14C]sucrose was en­ hanced by NaCl at 250 mᴍ and 500 mᴍ, while the rate of incorporation of radioactivity into macromolecules was reduced by high concentrations of NaCl. Incorporation of radioactivity from [ U -14C]sucrose into malic acid was enhanced in both roots and leaves by an increase in the concentration of NaCl from 100 mᴍ to 500 mᴍ (this concentrations is similar to that in sea water). Independent of the concentration of NaCl, more than half of the radioactivity in the neutral fraction from leaves was incorporated into an unidentified sugar, while in the same fraction from roots, the radioactivity was associated with glucose, fructose and sucrose. On the basis of these results, a discussion is presented of the characteristics of catabolism of sugars in A. marina in relation to salt resistance.