The paraveinal mesophyll of soybean leaves in relation to assimilate transfer and compartmentation : II. Structural, metabolic and compartmental changes during reproductive growth.

Nitrogen and carbohydrate assimilates were temporally and spatially compartmented among various cell types in soybean (Glycine max L., Merr.) leaves during seed filling. The paraveinal mesophyll (PVM), a unique cell layer found in soybean, was demonstrated to function in the synthesis, compartmentation and remobilization of nitrogen reserves prior to and during the seed-filling stages. At anthesis, the PVM vacuoles contain substantial protein which completely disappears by two weeks into the seed filling. Distinct changes in the PVM cytoplasm, tonoplast and organelles were correlated with the presence or absence of the vacuolar material. Microautoradiography following the accumulation of several radiolabeled sugars and amino acids demonstrated the glycoprotein nature of the vacuolar material. Incorporation of methionine, leucine, glucose, and glucosamine resulted in heavy labelling of the PVM vacuole, in contrast to galactose, proline, and mannose which resulted in a much reduced labelling pattern. In addition, starch is unequally compartmented and degraded among the various leaf cells during seed filling. At the end of the photoperiod at the flowering stage, the highest starch accumulation was in the second palisade layer followed by the spongy mesophyll and the first (uppermost) palisade layer. Starch in the first palisade layer was completely degraded during the dark whereas the starch in the second palisade and spongy mesophyll was not remobilized to any appreciable extent. By mid-podfilling (approximately five weeks postanthesis) starch was absent in the first palisade layer at the end of the photoperiod while the second palisade and spongy mesophyll layers contained substantial starch. Starch was remobilized from these latter cells during the remainder of seed filling when current photosynthetic production is low. Structural changes associated with cell senescence first appear in the upper palisade layer and then progress (excluding the PVM) to the second palisade and spongy mesophyll layer. The PVM and phloem appear to retain their structural integrity into the leaf yellowing stage. Reducing sink capacity by pod removal resulted in a continued accumulation of vacuolar protein, an increase in cytoplasmic volume, and fragmentation of the vacuole in the PVM. Pod removal also resulted in an increased amount of accumulated starch (which did not turn over) in all mesophyll layers, and an increase in cell size and cell-wall thickness.