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JXB Advance Access published online on November 13, 2008
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/ern279
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© 2008 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)

RESEARCH PAPER

Accumulation of calcium in the centre of leaves of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is due to an uncoupling of water and ion transport

Matt Kerton1,*, H. John Newbury1, David Hand2 and Jeremy Pritchard1

1School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Midlands B15 2TT, UK
2West End Nursery, Humber VHB, Roundstone Lane, Angmering, West Sussex BN16 4AX, UK

* To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: mck100{at}bham.ac.uk

The aim of this study is to understand the parameters regulating calcium ion distribution in leaves. Accumulation of ions in leaf tissue is in part dependent on import from the xylem. This import via the transpiration stream is more important for ions such as calcium that are xylem but not phloem mobile and cannot therefore be retranslocated. Accumulation of calcium was measured on bulk coriander leaf tissue (Coriandrum sativum L. cv. Lemon) using ion chromatography and calcium uptake was visualized using phosphor-images of 45Ca2+. Leaves of plants grown in hydroponics had elevated calcium in the centre of the leaf compared with the leaf margin, while K+ was distributed homogeneously over the leaf. This calcium was shown to be localised to the mesophyll vacuoles using EDAX. Stomatal density and evapotranspiration (water loss per unit area of leaf) were equal at inner and outer sections of the leaf. Unequal ion distribution but uniformity of water loss suggested that there was a difference in the extent of uncoupling of calcium and water transport between the inner and outer leaf. Since isolated tissue from the inner and outer leaf were able to accumulate similar amounts of calcium, it is proposed that the spatial variation of leaf calcium concentration is due to differential ion delivery to the two regions rather than tissue/cell-specific differences in ion uptake capacity. There was a positive correlation between whole leaf calcium concentration and the difference in calcium concentration between inner and outer leaf tissue. Exposing the plants to increased humidity reduced transpiration and calcium delivery to the leaf and abolished this spatial variation of calcium concentration. Mechanisms of calcium delivery to leaves are discussed. An understanding of calcium delivery and distribution within coriander will inform strategies to reduce the incidence of calcium-related syndromes such as tip-burn and provides a robust model for the transport of ions and other substances in the leaf xylem.

Key words: Calcium, Coriandrum sativum, distribution, ion chromatography, leaves, radioisotope, spatial variation, transpiration, uptake

Received 29 August 2008; Accepted 16 October 2008


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