Nutrient deficiencies under stress in legumes: An overview - Legumes Under Environmental Stress: Yield, Improvement and Adaptations - page 62

photosynthetic ability of legumes, and the effect is
more pronounced compared to high temperatures
(Tsonev et al., 1991). Freeze tolerance is associated
with cellular osmotic stabilization, photosynthesis
modification, antioxidant production, and modifica-
tion in hormone metabolism and cell wall composition
and dynamics (Lucau-Danila et al., 2012). MMK4
kinase is a post-translational protective enzyme (Bogre
et al., 1997) that is activated in legumes in response to
exposure to cold stress (Jonak et al., 1996). An
experiment was carried out to investigate the nature
of the reduction in stem elongation in response to
low temperatures. Gibberellic acid (GA) controls
stem elongation, and light deactivates GA, which
assists in short-term low temperature adaptation in
legumes and the low temperature light stress response.
According to this experiment, the stem elongation
depends on the timing of the temperature drop. A tem-
perature drop at night with a time span of 3-4 hours
showed a decrease in stem elongation by 27%. A tem-
perature drop in the middle of the light period with a
time span of 2 hours reduced the rate of cell elongation
by 55% (Stavang et al., 2007). Legumes also require
stable and competent mitochondria to recover from
cold stress (Prasad et al., 1994). The inner membrane of
mitochondria in cold-tolerant legumes is also known
to have a higher percentage of 18-carbon unsaturated
fatty acids, a higher membrane fluidity as well as
increased activity of cytochrome c oxidase (De Santis
et al., 1999). NADH is known for its protection against
cold stress by sustaining oxidative phosphorylation at
low temperatures.

fixation, which therefore affects the overall growth of
the plant. As discussed, macronutrients (nitrogen, phos-
phorus, potassium, sulphur and carbon) play a vital role
in normal growth and development of plants; their defi-
ciency results in overproduction of ROS, and reduced
photosynthesis, respiration and water use efficiency.
These nutrients also have a role in regulating the
amount of storage proteins in legumes and hence the
quality of yield.

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3.9 Conclusion

Every single organism found on the planet needs a set of
particular conditions to survive. If such conditions are
not available, the growth and development of that
organism is badly affected. Nutritional deficiency in
legumes leads to a number of physiological and
biochemical changes in the plants including reduced
nitrogen fixation and hence yield. Macronutrients per-
form a variety of functions in legumes. They help in
photosynthesis, enzyme activation and vitamin produc-
tion, improvement of food quality, production of amino
acids and N 2 fixation. Changes in their concentrations
can have positive or negative effect on the rate of N 2