Stimulation of Root Growth Induced by Aluminum in Quercus serrata Thunb. Is Related to
Activity of Nitrate Reductase and Maintenance of IAA Concentration in Roots
1623
second lateral roots induced by Al in the present study
(Table 1) may result in Al maintaining IAA concentra-
tion, and the hormone balance (auxin/cytokinin ratio)
may be essential for efficient lateral root development.
A close relationship between auxin-induced lateral
root formation and NO-induced lateral root development
has been reported recently. Initiation of lateral roots is
accompanied by an increase in NO level, an increase that
is involved with auxin signaling [13]. Furthermore, Kol-
bert et al. [14] reported that lateral root development by
auxin-induced NO production was associated with NR
activity. In the present study, the 1-h Al treatment en-
hanced NR activity in roots and the elongation and de-
velopment of second lateral roots, but 1-h Ca treatment
did not enhance second lateral root growth even though
NR activity increased (Figure 1 and Table 1).
Al-induced enhancement of root growth in Q. serrata
may be caused by stimulation of NR activity in roots and
IAA-induced NO synthesis. Furthermore, these data,
including those on phytohormones, might be useful for
further investigation of tree development.
5. Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Young
Scientists (B) (20780114) from the Ministry of Education,
Sports, Culture, Science and Technology of Japan, and
The Salt Science Research Foundation.
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