Insights into the regulation of nitrogen fixation in pea nodules: lessons from drought, abscisic acid and increased photoassimilate availability

Abstract

Nitrogen fixation in legume nodules has been shown to be very sensitive to drought and other environmental constraints. It has been widely assumed that this decline in nitrogen fixation was a consequence of an increase in the so-called oxygen diffusion barrier and a subsequent impairment to bacteroid respiration. However, it has been recently shown that nitrogen fixation is highly correlated with nodule sucrose synthase (SS) activity under drought and other environmental stresses. Whether this correlation reflects a causative relationship or not has not been proven yet. The evidence presented here suggests that SS controls nitrogen fixation under mild drought conditions. However, nitrogen fixation cannot be enhanced only by increasing glycolytic flux, as under these conditions nodules become oxygen limited. Abscisic acid also induces a decline in nitrogen fixation that is independent of SS. The overall results suggest the occurrence of a complex regulation of nodule nitrogen fixation involving, at least, both carbohydrate and oxygen fluxes within the nodule.