Mobility and distribution of boron in plants and effects on reproductive growth and yield

Year 2017, Volume: 2 Issue: 3, 175 - 183, 30.12.2017

Richard Bell

Abstract

Most boron (B) behaviour in plants can be
explained by complexation of B in cell walls and membranes which links the
consequences of B deficiency to the disruption of cell wall and membrane
function. Many symptoms of B deficiency reflect the localised and timely
need for B for stabilisation of cell walls in tissues with expanding cells,
e.g. flowers, fruit, root tips and shoot meristems. The internal B requirement of tissues for adequate function is
determined by the abundance of rhamnogalacturonan-II (RG-II) which complexes B
in the cell wall. Reproductive plant parts appear to be particularly at risk from
low B supply, in part because they require relatively high concentrations of B compared
to vegetative tissues.  When external B concentrations are adequate to
high, the uptake and distribution of B in plants can be largely explained by
the uptake of water and its movement within the plant. However, under marginal
and deficient external B concentrations, channels and transporters exert significant
control of the uptake and distribution of B within the plant. Channels and
transporters in roots promote uptake and loading of B into the xylem. For flowers,
pollen and seed, with low rates of transpiration, channels and transporters are
probably involved in their B acquisition under low external supply. The
mobility of B in the phloem is variable among species. In most plants, B is
immobile in the phloem and growing tissues rely substantially on B supplied
through the xylem or by xylem-to-phloem transfer. However, if present in the
phloem, B-complexing compounds, notably sugar alcohols, allow free mobility of
B in the phloem so that B can be retranslocated within the plant of those
species especially under deficient supply. 

Keywords

Boron-complexing, Boron requirements, Cell wall, Deficiency symptoms, Pectin, RG-II, Sugar alcohols

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