Far1, a Negative Regulatory Locus Required for the Repression of the Nitrate Reductase Gene in Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii

In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the genes required for nitrate assimilation, including the gene encoding nitrate reductase (NIT1), are subject to repression by ammonia. To study the mechanism of ammonia repression, we employed two approaches to search for mutants with defective repression of NIT1 gene expression. (1) PF14, a gene required for flagellar function, was used as a reporter gene for expression from the NIT1 promoter. When introduced into a pf14 mutant host, the NIT1:PF14 chimeric construct produced a transformant (T10-10B) with a conditional swimming phenotype. Spontaneous mutants with defective ammonia repression of the NIT1 promoter were screened for by isolating cells that gained constitutive motility. (2) Insertional mutagenesis was performed, followed by screening for chlorate sensitivity in the presence of ammonia ion. One insertional mutant and six spontaneous mutants were allelic and defined a new gene, FAR1 (free from ammonia repression). FAR1 was mapped to Linkage Group I, 7.7 cM to the right of the centromere. The far1-1 mutant strain was used to clone DNA adjacent to the site of plasmid insertion, which was then used as a hybridization probe to clone the FAR1 gene from wild type.     

Expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana invertase gene family

Two new loci have been found to be clustered with five other genes for the nitrate assimilation pathway in the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii genome. One gene, located close to the 3′-end of the high-affinity nitrate transporter (HANT) gene Nrt2;2, corresponds to the nitrite reductase (NiR) structural gene Nii1. This is supported by a number of experimental findings: (i) NiR-deficient mutants have lost Nii1 gene expression; (ii) Nii1 mRNA accumulation is co-regulated with the expression of other structural genes of the nitrate assimilation pathway; (iii) nitrite (nitrate) utilization ability is recovered in the NiR mutants by functional complementation with a wild-type Nii1 gene; (iv) the elucidated NII1 amino acid sequence is highly similar to that of the cyanobacterial and higher-plant enzyme, and contains the predicted domains for plastidic ferredoxin-NiRs. Thus, the mutant phenotype and the mRNA sequence and expression of the Nii1 gene have been unequivocally related. Accumulation of mRNA for the second locus identified, Lde1 (light-dependent expression), was not regulated by nitrogen, but like nitrate-assimilation clustered genes, its expression was down-regulated in the dark. Received: 27 November 1997 / Accepted: 19 January 1998     

A tobacco cDNA clone encoding a GATA-1 zinc finger protein homologous to regulators of nitrogen metabolism in fungi

In higher plants, the expression of the nitrate assimilation pathway is highly regulated. Although the molecular mechanisms involved in this regulation are currently being elucidated, very little is known about the trans-acting factors that allow expression of the nitrate and nitrite reductase genes which code for the first enzymes in the pathway. In the fungus Neurospora crassa, nit-2, the major nitrogen regulatory gene, activates the expression of unlinked structural genes that specify nitrogen-catabolic enzymes during conditions of nitrogen limitation. The nit-2 gene encodes a regulatory protein containing a single zinc finger motif defined by the C-X₂-CX₁₇-C-X₂-C sequence. This DNA-binding domain recognizes the promoter region of N. crassa nitrogen-related genes and fragments derived from the tomato nia gene promoter. The observed specificity of the binding suggests the existence of a NIT2-like homolog in higher plants. PCR and cross-hybridization techniques were used to isolate, respectively, a partial cDNA from Nicotiana plumbaginifolia and a full-length cDNA from Nicotiana tabacum. These clones encode a NIT2-like protein (named NTL1 for nit-2-like), characterized by a single zinc finger domain, defined by the C-X₂-C-X₁₈-C-X₂-C amino acids, and associated with a basic region. The amino acid sequence of NTL1 is 60% homologous to the NIT2 sequence in the zinc finger domain. The Ntl1 gene is present as a unique copy in the diploid N. plumbaginifolia species. The characteristics of Ntl1 gene expression are compatible with those of a regulator of the nitrate assimilation pathway, namely weak nitrate inducibility and regulation by light.     

Regulation of basal and oxidative stress‐triggered jasmonic acid‐related gene expression by glutathione

Glutathione is a determinant of cellular redox state with roles in defence and detoxification. Emerging concepts suggest that this compound also has functions in cellular signalling. Here, we report evidence that glutathione plays potentially important roles in setting signalling strength through the jasmonic acid (JA) pathway. Firstly, we show that basal expression of JA‐related genes is correlated with leaf glutathione content when the latter is manipulated either genetically or pharmacologically. Secondly, analyses of an oxidative stress signalling mutant, cat2, reveal that up‐regulation of the JA pathway triggered by intracellular oxidation requires accompanying glutathione accumulation. Genetically blocking this accumulation in a cat2 cad2 line largely annuls H₂O₂‐induced expression of JA‐linked genes, and this effect can be rescued by exogenously supplying glutathione. While most attention on glutathione functions in biotic stress responses has been focused on the thiol‐regulated protein NPR1, a comparison of JA‐linked gene expression in cat2 cad2 and cat2 npr1 double mutants provides evidence that glutathione acts through other components to regulate the response of this pathway to oxidative stress. Our study provides new information implicating glutathione as a factor determining basal JA gene expression and suggests novel glutathione‐dependent control points that regulate JA signalling in response to intracellular oxidation.     

The NIN‐like protein 5 (ZmNLP5) transcription factor is involved in modulating the nitrogen response in maize

Maize exhibits marked growth and yield response to supplemental nitrogen (N). Here, we report the functional characterization of a maize NIN‐like protein ZmNLP5 as a central hub in a molecular network associated with N metabolism. Predominantly expressed and accumulated in roots and vascular tissues, ZmNLP5 was shown to rapidly respond to nitrate treatment. Under limited N supply, compared with that of wild‐type (WT) seedlings, the zmnlp5 mutant seedlings accumulated less nitrate and nitrite in the root tissues and ammonium in the shoot tissues. The zmnlp5 mutant plants accumulated less nitrogen than the WT plants in the ear leaves and seed kernels. Furthermore, the mutants carrying the transgenic ZmNLP5 cDNA fragment significantly increased the nitrate content in the root tissues compared with that of the zmnlp5 mutants. In the zmnlp5 mutant plants, loss of the ZmNLP5 function led to changes in expression for a significant number of genes involved in N signalling and metabolism. We further show that ZmNLP5 directly regulates the expression of nitrite reductase 1.1 (ZmNIR1.1) by binding to the nitrate‐responsive cis‐element at the 5′ UTR of the gene. Interestingly, a natural loss‐of‐function allele of ZmNLP5 in Mo17 conferred less N accumulation in the ear leaves and seed kernels resembling that of the zmnlp5 mutant plants. Our findings show that ZmNLP5 is involved in mediating the plant response to N in maize.     

Requirement for the plastidial oxidative pentose phosphate pathway for nitrate assimilation in Arabidopsis

Sugar metabolism and the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (OPPP) are strongly implicated in N assimilation, although the relationship between them and the roles of the plastidial and cytosolic OPPP have not been established genetically. We studied a knock‐down mutant of the plastid‐localized OPPP enzyme 6‐phosphogluconolactonase 3 (PGL3). pgl3‐1 plants exhibited relatively greater resource allocation to roots but were smaller than the wild type. They had a lower content of amino acids and free in leaves than the wild type, despite exhibiting comparable photosynthetic rates and efficiency, and normal levels of many other primary metabolites. When N‐deprived plants were fed via the roots with , pgl3‐1 exhibited normal induction of OPPP and nitrate assimilation genes in roots, and amino acids in roots and shoots were labeled with ¹⁵N at least as rapidly as in the wild type. However, when N‐replete plants were fed via the roots with sucrose, expression of specific OPPP and N assimilation genes in roots increased in the wild type but not in pgl3‐1. Thus, sugar‐dependent expression of N assimilation genes requires OPPP activity and the specificity of the effect of the pgl3‐1 mutation on N assimilation genes establishes that it is not the result of general energy deficiency or accumulation of toxic intermediates. We conclude that expression of specific nitrate assimilation genes in the nucleus of root cells is positively regulated by a signal emanating from OPPP activity in the plastid.     

Regulation of alternative oxidase 1 in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii during sulfur starvation

The mitochondrial respiratory chain in plants, some protists and many fungi consists of the ATP-coupling cyanide-sensitive cytochrome pathway and the cyanide-resistant alternative respiratory pathway. The alternative pathway is mediated by alternative oxidase (AOX). Although AOX has been proposed to play essential roles in nutrient stress tolerance of plants and protists, the effects of sulfur (S) deprivation, on AOX are largely unknown. The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii reacts to S limitation conditions with the induced expression of many genes. In this work, we demonstrated that exposure of C. reinhardtii to S deprivation results in the up-regulation of AOX1 expression and an increased AOX1 protein. Furthermore, S-deprived C. reinhardtii cells display the enhanced AOX1 capacity. Moreover, nitrate assimilation regulatory protein (NIT2) is involved in the control of the AOX1 gene expression in the absence of S. Together, the results clearly indicate that AOX1 relates to S limitation stress responses and is regulated in a NIT2-dependent manner, probably together with yet-unknown regulatory factor(s).     

Enzymatic characterization of the recombinant Arabidopsis thaliana nitrilase subfamily encoded by the NIT2/NIT1/NIT3-gene cluster

Three of the nitrilase isoenzymes of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. are located on chromosome III in tandem and these genes (NIT2/NIT1/NIT3 in the 5′→3′ direction) encode highly similar polypeptides. Copy DNAs encompassing the entire coding sequences for all three nitrilases were expressed in Escherichia coli as fusion proteins containing a C-terminal hexahistidine extension. All three nitrilases were obtained as enzymatically active proteins, and their characteristics were determined, including a detailed comparative analysis of their substrate preferences. All three nitrilases converted indole-3-acetonitrile (IAN) to indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), albeit, compared to the most effective substrates found, phenylpropionitrile (PPN), allylcyanide, (phenylthio)acetonitrile and (methylthio)acetonitrile, with low affinity and velocity. The preferred substrates are either naturally occurring substrates, which may originate from glucosinolate breakdown, or they are close relatives of these. Thus, a major function of NIT1, NIT2 and NIT3 is assigned to be the conversion to carboxylic acids of nitriles from glucosinolate turnover or degradation. While all nitrilases exhibit a similar pH optimum around neutral, and NIT1 and NIT3 exhibit a similar temperature optimum around 30 °C independent of the substrate analyzed (IAN, PPN), NIT2 showed a remarkably different temperature optimum for IAN (15 °C) and PPN (35–40 °C). A potential role for NIT2 in breaking seed dormancy in A. thaliana by low temperatures (stratification), however, was ruled out, although NIT2 was the predominantly expressed nitrilase isoform in developing embryos and in germinating seeds, as judged from an analysis of β-glucuronidase reporter gene expression under the control of the promoters of the four isogenes. It is possible that NIT2 is involved in supplying IAA during seed development rather than during stratification. Received: 13 May 2000 / Accepted: 14 August 2000