Availability of soil iron determines the distribution strategy and seed iron content in mungbean (Vigna radiata) plants

Nair, Ramakrishnan Madhavan; HanumanthaRao, Bindumadhava; Vemula, Anilkumar; Rathore, Abhishek; Brumbarova, Tzvetina; Ivanov, Rumen

Availability of soil iron determines the distribution strategy and seed iron content in mungbean (Vigna radiata) plants

2020

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Mungbean (Vigna radiata) is an important nutrient-rich crop with an increasing significance as food in Asia and other parts of the world. The conditions under which mungbean grows on the field might vary significantly and therefore understanding the behavior of plants on different soil types is crucial for obtaining optimal nutrient yields. In particular, iron availability in the soil might significantly influence plant growth and the loading of this element in the seed. The consumption of iron is one of the major problems of human nutrition worldwide. Lack of iron causes iron deficiency anemia, the most common nutrient disorder, leading to major developmental penalties or even death. Here, we aimed at understanding how iron is taken up in mungbean and how increasing its availability in the soil changes the iron distribution within three popular mungbean varieties, NM-94, CN9-5 and Harsha. APPROACH AND RESULTS: We could show that mungbean secretes phenolic compounds to support its iron acquisition and observed significant quantitative variations in the phenolic release, and root-surface ferric reductase activity among the three varieties. We found that in terms of iron distribution between organs, plants react differently when grown on soils with significantly different Fe content. In standard soils, the CN9-5 and Harsha varieties tended to achieve better iron distribution towards the seed, and higher iron content than NM-94. On the contrary, on iron-rich soil iron distribution towards the seed in NM-94 was strongly enhanced and led to the highest content among the three varieties. The data provide important insights into the choice of mungbean varieties depending on the soil conditions.

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