Abstract
Inorganic ions absorbed from soil move through the xylem vessel to leaves and are taken up by leaf cells. Both apoplastic and symplastic pathways mediate its route, but the detail is not clear. In the present study, we analyzed the mechanism of Pi transport in the leaves. First, we established the isolation method of living mesophyll cells and vascular tissues from the rosette leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana. Then, we measured the Pi uptake activity of the isolated mesophyll cells. The mesophyll cells isolated only from the leaves developed in Pi-deficient condition have Pi uptake activity. The expression patterns of genes encoding Pi transporters in the mesophyll cells and the vascular tissues are analyzed by real-time PCR. Some transporter genes are highly expressed in the vascular tissues. In the mesophyll cells from the Pi-deficient plants, their expression levels increased.
