Variation in the angiosperm ionome

Abstract

The ionome is defined as the elemental composition of a subcellular structure, cell, tissue, organ or organism. The subset of the ionome comprising mineral nutrients is termed the functional ionome. A ‘standard functional ionome’ of leaves of an ‘average’ angiosperm, defined as the nutrient composition of leaves when growth is not limited by mineral nutrients, is presented and can be used to compare the effects of environment and genetics on plant nutrition. The leaf ionome of a plant is influenced by interactions between its environment and genetics. Examples of the effects of the environment on the leaf ionome are presented and the consequences of nutrient deficiencies on the leaf ionome are described. The physiological reasons for (1) allometric relationships between leaf nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and (2) linear relationships between leaf calcium and magnesium concentrations are explained. It is noted that strong phylogenetic effects on the mineral composition of leaves of angiosperm species are observed even when sampled from diverse environments. The evolutionary origins of traits including (1) the small calcium concentrations of Poales leaves, (2) the large magnesium concentrations of Caryophyllales leaves and (3) the large sulphur concentrations of Brassicales leaves are traced using phylogenetic relationships among angiosperm orders, families and genera. The rare evolution of hyperaccumulation of toxic elements in leaves of angiosperms is also described. Consequences of variation in the leaf ionome for ecology, mineral cycling in the environment, strategies for phytoremediation of contaminated land, sustainable agriculture and the nutrition of livestock and humans are discussed.

Comparative analysis of perennial and annualPhaseolusseed nutrient concentrations

“…These genomic regions often contain genes involved in ion transport suggesting that multiple ions may be absorbed from the soil and/or moved through the plant by the same mechanism [86], [90] . In our study, we find correlations that are both similar (e.g., calcium & strontium; [91], [92] and different (e.g., copper, zinc, and nickel; [93] than previous studies in leaves [94] . Collectively, the growing body of literature on ion covariation suggests that ion concentrations are highly dynamic and therefore it will be important for breeders to determine the ion variation and covariation for each species (and possibly across multiple geographic locations).…”

The bioelements, the elementome, and the biogeochemical niche

“…This further allows us to analyze the effects of genes and environment on plant nutrition (Neugebauer et al. , Buescher et al. , Lowry et al.…”

“…The fusion of this information with bioinformatics and genetic tools, such as genomic sequencing, allows the identification of the genes that control uptake, storage, and use of soil nutrients and trace elements in plants (Baxter et al 2012, Lowry et al 2012. This further allows us to analyze the effects of genes and environment on plant nutrition (Neugebauer et al 2008, Buescher et al 2010, Lowry et al 2012) and plant physiological status . BN instead considers all, or as many as possible, bioelements, i.e., also including those such as C or N that are initially from atmospheric, not ionic, forms (e.g., N comes mainly from atmospheric N 2 ; nitrates are rare in bedrock).…”

Cycas micronesica Trees Alter Local Soil Traits

“…The ionome and resulting biochemistry of sessile perennial plants is under the control of the immediate environment. The absolute levels of essential and non-essential elements and the stoichiometry among these elements within soils can affect the corresponding plant tissue contents [37,38]. The reports that include green leaf element contents of cycad species have not adequately quantified these consequential local soil traits to carry out the methods appropriately.…”