Effects of varied soil nitrogen supply on Norway spruce (picea abies [L.] Karst.): II. Carbon metabolism in needles and mycorrhizal roots

The response of carbohydrate metabolism in 3-year-old Norway spruce plants to an increased amount of nitrogen supply to a N-poor forest soil was investigated in a pot experiment. After 7 months of treatment we found a decreased amount of starch in both needles and roots, together with decreased amounts of sucrose in needles of those plants grown under an enhanced inorganic N supply. In addition, the activity and the protein amount of the anaplerotic enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) and the activity of NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) were clearly increased. The activity of sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) and the pool size of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (F26BP) were not affected by high supply of inorganic N. These data indicate a shift of carbon flow from starch formation towards an enhanced provision of carbon skeletons for N assimilation and shoot growth. In parallel, we found decreased contents of fungus-specific compounds (ergosterol, mannitol, trehalose) in roots, which are indicators of a decreased colonization by ectomycorrhizal fungi, probably as a result of a changed allocation and partitioning of photoassimilates due to an increased N supply.