Use of Na-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance To Follow Sodium Uptake and Efflux in NaCl-Adapted and Nonadapted Millet (Panicum miliaceum) Suspensions

23Na NMR microimaging: a tool for non-invasive monitoring of sodium distribution in living plants

Detailed knowledge of the sodium (Na) distribution within the tissues of highly salt-tolerant Australian native species could help in understanding the physiological adaptations of salt-tolerance or salt-sensitive plants. ²³Na nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) microimaging is presented as a tool to achieve this goal. Maps of the Na distribution in stem tissue were obtained with an in-plane resolution of approximately125 µm and a slice thickness of 4 mm. Simultaneously recorded high resolution ¹H NMR images showing water distribution in the same slice with 31 µm in-plane resolution and 1 mm slice thickness, were used as an anatomical reference together with optical micrographs that were taken immediately after the NMR experiments were completed. To quantify the Na concentration, reference capillaries with known NaCl concentrations were located in the NMR probe together with the plant sample. Average concentration values calculated from signal intensities in the tissue and the capillaries were compared with concentration values obtained from atomic emission photometry and optical microscopy performed on digested stem sections harvested immediately after NMR experiments. Results showed that ²³Na NMR microimaging has great potential for physiological studies of salt stress at the macroscopic level, and may become a unique tool for diagnosing salt tolerance and sensitivity.

23Na and (1)H NMR microimaging of intact plants

(23)Na NMR microimaging is described to map, for the first time, the sodium distribution in living plants. As an example, the response of 6-day-old seedlings of Ricinus communis to exposure to sodium chloride concentrations from 5 to 300 mM was observed in vivo using (23)Na as well as (1)H NMR microimaging. Experiments were performed at 11.75 T with a double resonant (23)Na-(1)H probehead. The probehead was homebuilt and equipped with a climate chamber. T(1) and T(2) of (23)Na were measured in the cross section of the hypocotyl. Within 85 min (23)Na images with an in-plane resolution of 156 x 156 micrometer were acquired. With this spatial information, the different types of tissue in the hypocotyl can be discerned. The measurement time appears to be short compared to the time scale of sodium uptake and accumulation in the plant so that the kinetics of salt stress can be followed. In conclusion, (23)Na NMR microimaging promises great potential for physiological studies of the consequences of salt stress on the macroscopic level and thus may become a unique tool for characterizing plants with respect to salt tolerance and salt sensitivity.

Involvement of na in active uptake of pyruvate in mesophyll chloroplasts of some c(4) plants : na/pyruvate cotransport

An artificial Na(+) gradient across the envelope (Na(+) jump) enhanced pyruvate uptake in the dark into mesophyll chloroplasts of a C(4) plant, Panicum miliaceum (NAD-malic enzyme type) (J Ohnishi, R Kanai [1987] FEBS Lett 219:347). In the present study, (22)Na(+) and pyruvate uptake were examined in mesophyll chloroplasts of several species of C(4) plants. Enhancement of pyruvate uptake by a Na(+) jump in the dark was also seen in mesophyll chloroplasts of Urochloa panicoides and Panicum maximum (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase types) but not in Zea mays or Sorghum bicolor (NADP-malic enzyme types). In mesophyll chloroplasts of P. miliaceum and P. maximum, pyruvate in turn enhanced Na(+) uptake in the dark when added together with Na(+). When flux of endogenous Na(+) was measured in these mesophyll chloroplasts preincubated with (22)Na(+), pyruvate addition induced Na(+) influx, and the extent of the pyruvate-induced Na(+) influx positively correlated with that of pyruvate uptake. A Na(+)/H(+) exchange ionophore, monensin, nullified all the above mutual effects of Na(+) and pyruvate in mesophyll chloroplasts of P. miliaceum, while it accelerated Na(+) uptake and increased equilibrium level of chloroplast (22)Na(+). Measurements of initial uptake rates of pyruvate and Na(+) gave a stoichiometry close to 1:1. These results point to Na(+)/pyruvate cotransport into mesophyll chloroplasts of some C(4) plants.

In vivo 23Na and 31P NMR measurement of a tonoplast Na+/H+ exchange process and its characteristics in two barley cultivars

A Na+ uptake-associated vacuolar alkalinization was observed in roots of two barley cultivars (Arivat and the more salt-tolerant California Mariout) by using 23Na and 31P in vivo NMR spectroscopy. A NaCl uptake-associated broadening was also noted for both vacuolar Pi and intracellular Na NMR peaks, consistent with Na+ uptake into the same compartment as the vacuolar Pi. A close coupling of Na+ with H+ transport (presumably the Na+/H+ antiport) in vivo was evidenced by qualitative and quantitative correlations between Na+ accumulation and vacuolar alkalinization for both cultivars. Prolongation of the low NaCl pretreatment (30 mM) increased the activity of the putative antiport in Arivat but reduced it in California Mariout. This putative antiport also showed a dependence on NaCl concentration for California Mariout but not for Arivat. No cytoplasmic acidification accompanied the antiporter activity for either cultivar. The response of adenosine phosphates indicated that ATP utilization exceeded the capacity for ATP synthesis in Arivat, but the two processes seemed balanced in California Mariout. These comparisons provide clues to the role of the tonoplast Na+/H+ antiport and compensatory cytoplasmic adjustments including pH, osmolytes, and energy phosphates in governing the different salt tolerance of the two cultivars.

Energy Facilitated Na Uptake in Excised Corn Roots via P and Na NMR

The uptake of sodium ions by excised corn root tips (Zea mays L. cv FRB-73) was monitored by (23)Na nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods in the presence of a membrane impermeable shift reagent under different metabolic conditions. In addition, for the first time, the energy status as well as the intracellular pH associated with this influx was concurrently evaluated by (31)P NMR. The rate of sodium ion uptake decreased (in order) as the normal metabolic state was changed by the addition of cyanide, anaerobic condition, and carbonyl cyanide trifluoromethoxy phenyl-hydrazone treatment. The results suggest that the proton electrochemical potential of the plasma membrane may facilitate the influx of Na(+).

31P and 23Na NMR studies of the structure and lability of the sodium shift reagent, bis(tripolyphosphate)dysprosium(III) ([Dy(P3O10)]7-) ion, and its decomposition in the presence of rat muscle

The 31P NMR of aqueous [Dy(P3O10)2]7- demonstrates that it is in slow exchange with P3O5-10 on the NMR time scale. In the presence of tissue, [Dy(P3O10)2]7- decomposes to PO4 with an accompanying slow change of the tissue 23Na NMR of extracellular Na+ ion in several NMR distinguishable extracellular sites.