The mixotrophic nature of photosynthetic plants

Schmidt, S; Raven, JA; Paungfoo-Lonhienne, C

The mixotrophic nature of photosynthetic plants

Schmidt, S Raven, JA

Paungfoo-Lonhienne, C

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Functional Plant Biology, 2013, 40 (5), pp. 425 - 438
Issue Date:: 2013-05-28

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Schmidt, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Raven, JA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2789-3297	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Paungfoo-Lonhienne, C	en_US
dc.date.issued	2013-05-28	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Functional Plant Biology, 2013, 40 (5), pp. 425 - 438	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1445-4408	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/118014
dc.description.abstract	Plants typically have photosynthetically competent green shoots. To complement resources derived from the atmospheric environment, plants also acquire essential elements from soil. Inorganic ions and molecules are generally considered to be the sources of soil-derived nutrients, and plants tested in this respect can grow with only inorganic nutrients and so can live as autotrophs. However, mycorrhizal symbionts are known to access nutrients from organic matter. Furthermore, specialist lineages of terrestrial photosynthetically competent plants are mixotrophic, including species that obtain organic nutrition from animal prey (carnivores), fungal partners (mycoheterotrophs) or plant hosts (hemi-parasites). Although mixotrophy is deemed the exception in terrestrial plants, it is a common mode of nutrition in aquatic algae. There is mounting evidence that non-specialist plants acquire organic compounds as sources of nutrients, taking up and metabolising a range of organic monomers, oligomers, polymers and even microbes as sources of nitrogen and phosphorus. Plasma-membrane located transporter proteins facilitate the uptake of low-molecular mass organic compounds, endo-and phagocytosis may enable the acquisition of larger compounds, although this has not been confirmed. Identifying the mechanisms involved in the acquisition of organic nutrients will provide understanding of the ecological significance of mixotrophy. Here, we discuss mixotrophy in the context of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrition drawing parallels between algae and plants. © 2013 CSIRO.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Functional Plant Biology	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1071/FP13061	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Plant Biology & Botany	en_US
dc.title	The mixotrophic nature of photosynthetic plants	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	5	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	40	en_US
utslib.for	0607 Plant Biology	en_US
utslib.for	0601 Biochemistry and Cell Biology	en_US
utslib.for	0602 Ecology	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	5	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	40	en_US

Abstract:

Plants typically have photosynthetically competent green shoots. To complement resources derived from the atmospheric environment, plants also acquire essential elements from soil. Inorganic ions and molecules are generally considered to be the sources of soil-derived nutrients, and plants tested in this respect can grow with only inorganic nutrients and so can live as autotrophs. However, mycorrhizal symbionts are known to access nutrients from organic matter. Furthermore, specialist lineages of terrestrial photosynthetically competent plants are mixotrophic, including species that obtain organic nutrition from animal prey (carnivores), fungal partners (mycoheterotrophs) or plant hosts (hemi-parasites). Although mixotrophy is deemed the exception in terrestrial plants, it is a common mode of nutrition in aquatic algae. There is mounting evidence that non-specialist plants acquire organic compounds as sources of nutrients, taking up and metabolising a range of organic monomers, oligomers, polymers and even microbes as sources of nitrogen and phosphorus. Plasma-membrane located transporter proteins facilitate the uptake of low-molecular mass organic compounds, endo-and phagocytosis may enable the acquisition of larger compounds, although this has not been confirmed. Identifying the mechanisms involved in the acquisition of organic nutrients will provide understanding of the ecological significance of mixotrophy. Here, we discuss mixotrophy in the context of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrition drawing parallels between algae and plants. © 2013 CSIRO.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/118014