Chickpea (Cicer arietinum)
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The information about Chickpea is by no means final and it is being continuously corrected/ updated.
Physiology:
a) PHYSIOLOGY
b) PHOTOSYNTHESIS
a) PHYSIOLOGY
Chickpea is the common name for an annual plant and is a quantitative long day plant, Cicer arietinum, of the Fabaceae (or Leguminosae) family that is widely cultivated for its typically yellow-brown, pea like seeds.It is a predominantly self-pollinated crop.
Annual herb, up to 1 m tall. Stem glandular pubescent. Leaf imparipinnately compound, leaflets 7-17, 7-19 mm long, 4-10 mm broad, mostly elliptic, dentate, acute, mucronulate, glandular pubescent; stipules 2-5-fid. Flowers solitary, peduncle 5-20 mm long, pedicel 5-10 mm long, bracts 2-3 mm long. Calyx 7-9 mm long. Corolla white to purple. Vexillum 10-22 mm long. Fruit c. 2-3.5 cm long, 1-1.5 cm broad, 1-4-seeded, glandular pubescent.
b) PHOTOSYNTHESIS
H. R. Singal et al 2006, reported that activities of some key enzymes of the Calvin cycle and C4 metabolism, rates of CO2 fixation in light and dark, and initial products of photosynthetic CO2 fixation were determined in podwall and seedcoat (fruiting structures) and their subtending leaf in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.).Compared to activities of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.39) and other Calvin cycle enzyme, viz.NADP+-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.13), NAD+-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.12) and ribulose-5-phosphate kinase (EC 2.7.1.19), the levels of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and other enzymes of C4 metabolism viz. NADP+-malate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.82), NAD+-malate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.37), NADP+ malic enzyme (EC 1.1.1.40), NAD+-malic enzyme (EC 1.1.1.39), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (EC 2.6.1.1) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (EC 2.6.1.2), were generally much higher in podwall and seedcoat than in the leaf.
Podwall and seedcoat fixed CO2 in light and dark at much higher rates than the leaf. Short-term assimilation of CO2 by illuminated fruiting structures produced malate as the major labelled product with less labelling in 3-phosphoglycerate, whereas the leaf showed a major incorporation into 3-phosphoglycerate. It seems likely that the fruiting structures of chickpea utilize phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase for recapturing the respired carbon dioxide.
M Soussi et al 1998,reported that the response of nitrogen fixation to salt is more pronounced than the response of photosynthesis, which, together with the carbohydrate accumulation found in the nodule, suggests that the lack of photosynthate did not cause the inhibition in the nitrogenase activity under the salt of stress. The similar tendency observed in the Pphosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase(PEPC)-Malate Dehydrogenase(MDH) pathway and the Acatylene Reduction Activity support the hypothesis of concerning the limitation in the supply of energy substrate, mainly malate, to the bacteroids. On the other hand, the accumulation of organic solutes, in this case,re?ects the damage caused by NaCl.
References
http://www.eol.org/pages/685208Link
H. R. Singal, I. S. Sheoran and Randhir Singh,Products of photosynthetic CO2 fixation and related enzyme activities in fruiting structures of chickpea,Physiologia Plantarum
Volume 66 Issue 3.Link
M Soussi, A Ocana and C Lluch,Effects of salt stress on growth, photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation in chick-pea (Cicer arietinum L.),Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol 49