Magnesium (continued file)

Magnesium is also taken up as divalent cation (Mg 2+).

The magnesium deficiencies are mostly likely in strongly acid, sandy soils.
The largest proportion of magnesium is found in the chlorophyll molecule.
Magnesium is required to stabilize ribosome structure and is involved as an activator for
numerous critical enzymes such as reactions involving ATP, where is serves to link the ATP
molecule to the active site of the enzyme.
Mg2+ is also an activator for both ribulosebusphosphate carboxylase and phosphoenolpyruvate
carboxylase, two critical enzymes in photosynthetic carbon fixation.
The first symptoms of magnesium efficiency is chlorosis due to a breakdown of chlorophyll in
the lamina of the leaf that lie between the veins .

Yellowing older leaves, especially between veins, is a sign of magnesium deficiency. Plants need magnesium to make chlorophyll
just like humans need iron to make hemoglobin.The old leaves don't get repaired, but the new ones are nice and green.

Cloroplast in the region of the veins are for some reason less susceptible to magnesium deficiency and retain
their chlorophyll much longer.
• Iron

• Of all the micronutriens, iron is required by plants in the largest amounts.

• Iron may taken up as either the ferric (Fe3+) or ferrous (Fe2+) ion,
• Ferrous is more common taken up due to its greater solubility.
• Iron is part of the catalytic group for many redox enzymes and it is required
for the synthesis of chlorophyll. Important redox enzymes include the
heme-containing cytochromes and non-heme iron-sulfur proteins involved in
photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation and respiration.
• Iron is also a constituent of several oxidase enzymes, such as catalase and
peroxidase.
• Iron deficiencies lead to a simultaneous loss of chlorophyll and
degeneration of chloroplast structure.
• Chlorosis appears first in the interveinal regions of the youngest leaves.
Chlorosis may progress to the veins and if the deficiency is severe enough,
the very small leaves may turn white.
• Boron
• In aqueous solution, boron is present as boric acid, or H3BO3.
• At physiological pH<8, it is found predominantly in undissociated form, which is
preferred for uptake by roots.
• Boron deficiency result an inhibition of both cell division and elongation in primary and
secondary roots. This gives the roots a stubby (short and broad) and bushy
appearance. Cell division is the shoot apex and young leaf is also inhibited, followed
by necrosis of the meristem.
• Boron is known to stimulate pollen tube germination and elongation. Common
symptoms of boron deficiency include shortened internodes, giving the plant a bushy
or rosette appearance.
 Copper

• In well-aerated soils, copper is generally available to the plant as the divalent cupric
ion, Cu2+.
• Copper act as a cofactor for a variety of oxidative enzymes. These include the
photosynthetic electron carrier plastocyanin; cytochrome oxidase, which is the final
oxidase enzyme in mitochondrial respiration and ascorbic acid oxidase.
• The browning of freshly cut apple and potato surface is due to the activity of copper
containing polyphenoloxidases. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) which detoxifies
superoxide radicals is another important copper enzyme.

• Symptoms of copper deficiency are generally stunted growth, distortion (bend and
twist) of young leaves and particularly in citrus trees, a loss of young leaves referred
to as “summer dieback”.
 Zink
• Zink is taken up by roots as the divalent cation Zn2+.
• Zink is an activator of a large number of enzyme, including alcohol
dehydrgenase (ADH) which catalyses the reduction of acetaldehyde to
ethanol; carbonic anhydrase (CA), which catalyzes the hydration of carbon
dioxide to bicarbonate and along with copper, superoxide dismutase.

• Zink deficiency plants have shortened internodes and smaller leaves.

 Manganese

• Manganese is absorbed and transported within the plant mainly as

the divalent cation Mn2+.
• Manganese is required as a cofactor for a number of enzymes,
particularly decarbocylase and dehydrogenase enzymes which play
a critical role in the respiratory carbon cycle.
• Manganese involved in photosynthetic oxygen evolution. In the form
of a manganoprotein, manganese is part of the oxygen-evolving
complex, where it accumulates charges during the oxidation of
water.
• Manganese deficiency is responsible for “gray speck” of cereal
grains, a disorder characterized by the appearance of greenish-
gray, oval shaped spots on the basal regions of young leaves. It
may cause extreme chlorosis between the leaf veins as well as
discoloration and deformities in legume seeds.
Molybdenum

• In aqueous solution it occurs mainly as the molybdate ion MnO42-.

• Among several enzymes found to require molybdenum are dinitrogenase
and nitrate reductase. The molybdenum requirement of a plant thus
depends to some extent on the mode of nitrogen supply. Dinitrogenase is
the enzyme used by prokaryotes, including those in symbiotic association
with higher plants, to reduce atmospheric nitrogen. Nitrate reductase is
found in roots and leaves where it catalyzes the reduction of nitrate to nitrite,
a necessary first step in the incorporation of nitrogen into amino acids and
other metabolites.
• Molybdenum gives rise to symptom of nitrogen deficiency. When nitrogen
supplies are adequate, a deficiency of molybdenum shows up as a classic
disorder known as “whiptail” in which the young leaves are twisted and
deformed (abnormal). The same plants may exhibit interveinal chlorosis and
necrosis along the veins of older leaves.
Chlorine

Chlorine ion (Cl-) is ubiquitous in nature and highly soluble.

Along with manganese chloride is required for the oxygen-evolving reactions of
photosynthesis.

Cl- is a highly mobile anion with 2 principle functions:

It is both a major counterion to diffusible cations, thus maintaining electrical neutrality
across membranes, and one of the principle osmotically active solutes in the vacuole.
Chloride ion also appears to be required for cell division in both leaves and shoots.
Chloride is readily taken up and most plants accumulate chloride ion far in excess of their
minimal requirements.

Plants deprived of chloride tend to exhibit reduced growth, wilting of the leaf tips, and a
general chlorosis.
 Define the Terms below:
• 1. Cofactor
• 2. Coenzyme
• 3. Catalyst
• 4. Activator
• 5. Osmoregulator