The efficiency of inorganic nitrogen (N) assimilation is a critical component of fertilizer use by plants and of forage production in Lolium perenne, an important pasture species worldwide. We present a spatiotemporal description of nitrate use efficiency in terms of metabolic responses and carbohydrate remobilization, together with components of cytokinin signal transduction following nitrate addition to N-impoverished plants. Perennial ryegrass (L. perenne cv. Grasslands Nui) plants were grown for 10 weeks in unfertilized soil and then treated with nitrate (5 mM) hydroponically. Metabolomic analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry revealed a dynamic interaction between N and carbon metabolism over a week-long time course represented by the relative abundance of amino acids, tricarboxylic acid intermediates and stored water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs). The initial response to N addition was characterized by a rapid remobilization of carbon stores from the low-molecular weight WSC, along with an increase in N content and assimilation into free amino acids. Subsequently, the shoot became the main source of carbon through remobilization of a large pool of high-molecular weight WSC. Associated quantification of cytokinin levels and expression profiling of putative cytokinin response regulator genes by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction support a role for cytokinin in the mediation of the response to N addition in perennial ryegrass. The presence of high levels of cis-zeatin-type cytokinins is discussed in the context of hormonal homeostasis under the stress of steady-state N deficiency.

AgResearch Grasslands Research Centre Tennent Drive Private Bag 11008 Palmerston North New Zealand

Laboratory of Growth Regulators and Department of Chemical Biology and Genetics Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research Faculty of Science Palacký University and Institute of Experimental Botany AS CR Šlechtitelů 27 783 71 Olomouc Czech Republic

School of Biological Sciences University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800 Christchurch New Zealand

School of Life Sciences Yantai University Yantai 264005 China

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Coordinated nitrogen and carbon remobilization for nitrate assimilation in leaf, sheath and root and associated cytokinin signals during early regrowth of Lolium perenne

Depletion of carbohydrate reserves limits nitrate uptake during early regrowth in Lolium perenne L

Cytokinins and Expression of SWEET, SUT, CWINV and AAP Genes Increase as Pea Seeds Germinate