Use of Mixture Experiments to Determine the Effect of Counterions of Bicarbonate on Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) `Poncho' in Hydroponics

Mixture experiments were used to study the effect of Rb, K, and Na in combination with a number of bicarbonate concentrations on bean plants grown in hydroponics in a controlled environmental chamber. The objective was to separate the cation effect from the bicarbonate effect. The first experiment was a 3-component mixture-amount experiment using various ratios of Rb, K, and Na at 0 and 7.5 mm of bicarbonate. In the 0 mm bicarbonate control, the pure blends were ranked: Rb > Na > K for their effect on reducing shoot dry mass. The high toxicity to the Rb ion was probably due to direct Rb toxicity in addition to any general salinity effect. At 7.5 mm bicarbonate, shoot dry mass was decreased with all the counter-ions compared to the 0 mm bicarbonate control, and their toxicity was ranked: Rb > Na ≈ K. The next series of experiments were 2-component mixture-amount experiments at various ratios of K and Na at 2.5, 5 and 7.5 mm bicarbonate. In the 0 mm bicarbonate control, shoot dry mass decreased with increasing proportions of Na, indicating a specific Na toxicity. The same trend was observed at 2.5 mm bicarbonate. In the 7.5 mm bicarbonate treatment, both Na and K were equally toxic. At low concentration of bicarbonate, the Na is more toxic than the bicarbonate. At higher concentrations of bicarbonate, both Na and bicarbonate exhibit similar levels of toxicity.

Bicarbonate-Reversible Inhibition of Plastoquinone Reductase in Photosystem II

In this paper the current status of the so-called bicarbonate effect is presented. Several chemicals (such as formate, azide, nitrite and nitric oxide) are known to inhibit the two-electron gate of photosystem II (PS II). A remerkable slowing down of QA- reoxidation and an increase in equilibrium [QA- ] have been observed after the second or the subsequent, but not the first, flash when thylakoid membranes are treated with formate, etc. And, significantly, these effects are totally and uniquely reversed upon bicarbonate addition. The current hypothesis is that bicarbonate functions as a proton shuttle that stabilizes the binding niche of QB- and stimulates platoquinol formation. This bicarbonate effect must involve both the D 1 and D 2 proteins since various herbicide-resistant D 1 mutants (e.g., D 1 -S264A , D 1 -L275F), as well as some D 2 mutants (e.g., D 2 -R251S, D 2 -R 233Q) have been found to be differentially sensitive to formate. The D 2-arginine (233, 251) effects are specific since D 2 -R 139H mutant and an­ other mutant in which an extra arginine was inserted, between F 223 and E 224 , behaves like the wild type. Data in the literature suggest that the bicarbonate binding must also involve Fe in the PS II QA-Fe -QB complex. In contrast, the QA-Fe -QB complex and the two-electron gate of both green and purple photosynthetic bacteria, including the M -E 234 G , Q and V mutants, are insensitive to bicarbonate-reversible inhibitors. We will also address the question of the nature of the active species involved and the possible role of bicarbonate in vivo.