Synthesis and degradation of barley nitrate reductase

Nitrate and light are known to modulate barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) nitrate reductase activity. The objective of this investigation was to determine whether barley nitrate reductase is regulated by enzyme synthesis and degradation or by an activation-inactivation mechanism. Barley seedling nitrate reductase protein (cross-reacting material) was determined by rocket immunoelectrophoresis and a qualitative immunochemical technique (western blot) during the induction and decay of nitrate reductase activity. Nitrate reductase cross-reacting material was not detected in root or shoot extracts from seedlings grown without nitrate. Low levels of nitrate reductase activity and cross-reacting material were observed in leaf extracts from plants grown on nitrate in the dark. Upon nitrate induction or transfer of nitrate-grown etiolated plants to the light, increases in nitrate reductase activity were positively correlated with increases in immunological cross-reactivity. Root and shoot nitrate reductase activity and cross-reacting material decreased when nitrate-induced seedlings were transferred to a nitrate-free nutrient solution or from light to darkness. These results indicate that barley nitrate reductase levels are regulated by de novo synthesis and protein degradation.     

Constitutive and nitrate-induced,membrane-bound nitrate reductase fromBradyrhizobium japonicum

Nitrate reductase (NR) activity was detected in membranes from cells ofBradyrhizobium japonicum cultured in defined medium either with glutamate or nitrate as the only nitrogen source. With gel filtration, the relative molecular mass (Mr) of the NR in cells growth with glutamate was estimated to be about 78 kDa. The enzyme from cells grown aerobically with nitrate had an Mr of 236 kDa, the same as that of the NR from microaerobically nitrate-grown cells. When cells that had been grown with glutamate were incubated microaerobically in both the absence and the presence of nitrate, the enzyme from each source resembled that of nitrate-grown cells in having an Mr of 236 kDa. In glutamate-grown cells that were further incubated, both microaerobiosis and nitrate were required for fully expression of the activity of the enzyme.     

Nitrate reductase activity in spheroplasts from Rhodobacter capsulatus E1F1 requires a periplasmic protein

Spheroplasts from Rhodobacter capsulatus E1F1 cells grown in nitrate maintained nitrate uptake and nitrate reductase activity only when they were illuminated under anaerobiosis in the presence of the periplasmic fraction and nitrate. The effects on nitrate uptake and nitrate reductase activity of spheroplasts were observed at low concentrations of periplasmic protein (about 50 x ml^-1). Periplasm from nitrate-grown cells was also required for nitrate reductase activity in spheroplasts isolated from ammonia-grown or diazotrophic cells which initially lacked this enzymatic activity. Both the maintenance of nitrate reductase in spheroplasts from nitrate-grown cells and the appearance of the activity in spheroplasts from diazotrophic cells were dependent on de novo protein synthesis. A periplasmic, 45-kDa protein which maintained the activity of nitrate reductase in spheroplasts was partially purified by gel filtration chromatography of periplasm obtained from nitrate-grown cells.Abbreviations NR nitrate reductase - CCCP carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone - CAM chloramphenicol     

Regulation of aldehyde oxidase and nitrate reductase in roots of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) by nitrogen source and salinity

The molybdenum cofactor (MoCo) is a component of aldehyde oxidase (AO EC 1.2.3.1), xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH EC 1.2.1.37) and nitrate reductase (NR, EC 1.6.6.1). The activity of AO, which catalyses the last step of the synthesis of abscisic acid (ABA), was studied in leaves and roots of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) plants grown on nitrate or ammonia with or without salinity. The activity of AO in roots was enhanced in plants grown with ammonium while nitrate-grown plants exhibited only traces. Root AO in barley was enhanced by salinity in the presence of nitrate or ammonia in the nutrient medium while leaf AO was not significantly affected by the nitrogen source or salinity of the medium.Salinity and ammonium decreased NR activity in roots while increasing the overall MoCo content of the tissue. The highest level of AO in barley roots was observed in plants grown with ammonium and NaCl, treatments that had only a marginal effect on leaf AO. ABA concentration in leaves of plants increased with salinity and ammonium.Keywords: ABA, aldehyde oxidase, ammonium, nitrate, salinity.      

Regulation of nitrate reductase in suspension culture of Silene alba Immunochemical approach

Silene alba cells grown on nitrate, usually develop NADH-nitrate reductase activity only at the beginning of their growth cycle. Immunodiffusion assays, with a specific nitrate reductase antiserum, revealed the presence of cross-reacting material in cells harvested at any time during their culture. Cells grown on ammonium lacked NADH-nitrate reductase activity but contained cross-reacting material. It is suggested that S. alba cells contain an enzymically inactive, antigenic form of nitrate reductase regardless of the nitrogen source.     

Nitrate assimilation in Candida nitratophila and other yeasts

Nitrate assimilation has been studied in four species of yeasts; Candida nitratophila, Candida utilis, Hansenula anomala and Rhodotorula glutinis. Ammonium-grown cultures of these organisms did not assimilate nitrate but acquired the capacity to do so after a 3 h period of nitrogenstarvation. Ammonium inhibited nitrate assimilation completely in nitrate-grown cultures of R. glutinis. With Candida spp. ammonium and nitrate were assimilated simultaneously but each was assimilated at a lower rate than when either was supplied alone. Nitrogen-starved cultures of C. nitratophila contained enough nitrate reductase activity to sustain high rates of nitrate assimilation. Results indicate that the high levels of nitrate reductase in nitrate-grown cultures of C. nitratophila do not limit nitrate assimilation. Nitrate assimilation appears to be limited by nitrate uptake and/or the supply of reducing equivalents for nitrate reduction in these cultures.     

Inhibition of tobacco nitrite reductase activity by expression of antisense RNA

A tobacco nitrite reductase (NiR) cDNA and its corresponding gene were isolated from cDNA and genomic libraries. An NiR antisense mRNA was expressed in transgenic tobacco under the control of a double 35S promoter. Transformants were obtained on a medium containing ammonium as the sole source of nitrogen. One plant growing normally on ammonium but displaying drastically reduced development and chlorotic leaves when grown on nitrate as the sole source of nitrogen was studied further. This plant accumulated nitrite fivefold over wild-type level and showed reduced amounts of ammonium (11% wild-type level), glutamine (19%), and total protein (8%). NiR mRNA and activity were below detectable levels. Under these conditions, nitrate reductase (NR) activity and mRNA were overexpressed, suggesting that N-metabolites resulting from nitrate reduction are responsible for the repression of the expression of the NR gene, independently from the presence or absence of a functional NR protein.     

Inorganic nitrogen assimilation in the non-N2-fixing cyanobacterium Phormidium laminosum. I. Cellular levels of glutamine synthetase and NADPH-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase

Cell-free extracts of nitrate-grown as well as of ammonium-grown cells of the filamentous non-nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Phormidium laminosum (strain OH-1-p.Cl₁) showed detectable levels of both glutamine synthetase (GS, EC 6.3.1.2) and NADPH-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH, EC 1.4.1.4) activities. The GS level of nitrate-grown cells was higher than that of ammonium-grown cells, whereas the GDH level was higher in ammonium-grown cells and depended on the external ammonium concentration. When nitrate-grown cells were transferred to an ammonium-containing medium, a decrease of GS and an increase of GDH specific activities occurred, even in the presence of nitrate. Conversely, when ammonia-grown cells were transferred to a nitrate-containing medium, an increase of GS and a decrease of GDH-specific activities took place. Both these effects were inhibited by chloramphenicol and were probably mediated by de novo protein synthesis. When either cell type was transferred to a medium without nitrogen source, the specific activities of both enzymes increased. When nitrate-grown cells were transferred to nitrate medium with L-methionine-DL-sulphoximine (MSX) added, the specific activity of GDH also increased. Here we present some evidence that, under certain conditions of nitrogen availability, GDH would play a minor role in ammonium assimilation.     

Regulation of asparaginase, glutamine synthetase, and glutamate dehydrogenase in response to medium nitrogen concentrations in a euryhaline chlamydomonas species

The ammonium assimilatory enzymes glutamine synthetase (EC 6.3.1.2) and glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.3) were investigated for a possible role in the regulation of asparaginase (EC 3.5.1.1) in a Chlamydomonas species isolated from a marine environment. Cells grown under nitrogen limitation (0.1 millimolar NH(4) (+), NO(3) (-), or l-asparagine) possessed 6 times the asparaginase activity and approximately one-half the protein of cells grown at high nitrogen levels (1.5 to 2.5 millimolar). Biosynthetic glutamine synthetase activity was 1.5 to 1.8 times greater in nitrogen-limited cells than cells grown at high levels of the three nitrogen sources.Conversely, glutamate dehydrogenase (both NADH- and NADPH-dependent activities) was greatest in cells grown at high levels of asparagine or ammonium, while nitrate-grown cells possessed little activity at all concentrations employed. For all three nitrogen sources, glutamate dehydrogenase activity was correlated to the residual ammonium concentration of the media after growth (r = 0.88 and 0.94 for NADH- and NADPH-dependent activities, respectively).These results suggest that glutamate dehydrogenase is regulated in response to ambient ammonium levels via a mechanism distinct from asparaginase or glutamine synthetase. Glutamine synthetase and asparaginase, apparently repressed by high levels of all three nitrogen sources, are perhaps regulated by a common mechanism responding to intracellular nitrogen depletion, as evidenced by low cellular protein content.     

An investigation into the interaction between nitrogen nutrition,photosynthesis and photorespiration

Photosynthetic CO₂ assimilation, photorespiration and levels of glycollate oxidase and ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase were measured in barley, wheat and maize plants grown on media containing nitrate or ammonium or in plants transferred from nitrate to ammonium. The CO₂ compensation point and photorespiratory CO₂ release were not altered by the nitrogen growth regime nor by transfer from nitrate to ammonium. In barley and wheat plants grown on ammonium the levels of glycollate oxidase and RuBP carboxylase per unit leaf area were higher than in nitrate grown material. These differences were not evident when the results were expressed on a protein or chlorophyll basis. The ratio of glycollate oxidase activity to RuBP carboxylase activity was not altered by the nitrogen regime.     

Localization of Nitrogen-Assimilating Enzymes in the Chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

The specific activities of nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, glutamine synthetase, glutamate synthase, and glutamate dehydrogenase were determined in intact protoplasts and intact chloroplasts from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. After correction for contamination, the data were used to calculate the portion of each enzyme in the algal chloroplast. The chloroplast of C. reinhardtii contained all enzyme activities for nitrogen assimilation, except nitrate reductase, which could not be detected in this organelle. Glutamate synthase (NADH- and ferredoxin-dependent) and glutamate dehydrogenase were located exclusively in the chloroplast, while for nitrite reductase and glutamine synthetase an extraplastidic activity of about 20 and 60%, respectively, was measured. Cells grown on ammonium, instead of nitrate as nitrogen source, had a higher total cellular activity of the NADH-dependent glutamate synthase (+95%) and glutamate dehydrogenase (+33%) but less activity of glutamine synthetase (−10%). No activity of nitrate reductase could be detected in ammonium-grown cells. The distribution of nitrogen-assimilating enzymes among the chloroplast and the rest of the cell did not differ significantly between nitrate-grown and ammonium-grown cells. Only the plastidic portion of the glutamine synthetase increased to about 80% in cells grown on ammonium (compared to about 40% in cells grown on nitrate).     

Sugar exudation by roots of kallar grass [<Emphasis Type="Italic">Leptochloa fusca</Emphasis> (L.) Kunth] is strongly affected by the nitrogen source

Exudation of sugars (glucose, fructose and sucrose) and that of cations and anions from intact roots of kallar grass [Leptochloa fusca (L.) Kunth] grown hydroponically with ammonium or nitrate (3 mM) as N source was investigated. In different experiments, plants grown on ammonium had slightly higher sugar contents than nitrate-grown plants, but their total sugar exudation during a 2-h period was up to 79-fold higher than under nitrate nutrition. Relative root exudation of inorganic anions and cations and that of amino acids (as a percentage of the internal contents exuded per time) was either similar or slightly higher from ammonium-grown than from nitrate-grown plants. Analysis of root architectural parameters revealed that ammonium-grown plants had a higher number of root tips/side roots per gram root fresh weight than nitrate-grown plants, whereas other root parameters, viz. length, diameter, volume and surface area were similar under the two N sources. A majority of the fine roots having diameter up to 0.4 mm represented up to 86% of the total root length, 64% of the total root surface area, and 35% of the total root volume; the root length and surface area per root system of that major root population were similar in ammonium- and nitrate-grown plants. Apparently, root architecture was not responsible for the different exudation rates. Within 12-24 h after shifting ammonium-grown plants to nitrate nutrition, root sugar levels and visible root architecture remained unchanged, yet the sugar exudation rate was reduced 30-fold. Short-term uptake of [14C]glucose (10 microM) from the rooting medium was similar for ammonium- and nitrate-grown plants. Thus, the very different sugar exudation rates were neither related to internal root sugar concentration, nor to the different root architecture, nor to differential resorption of sugars by ammonium- versus nitrate-grown plants. Increased external Ca2+ did not alter sugar exudation, and decreased external pH (4.5) only slightly increased sugar exudation from roots of nitrate-grown plants kept at pH 6.5. It is suggested that the much higher sugar exudation in response to ammonium may facilitate the ecologically and economically important association of diazotrophs with kallar grass roots.     

The protein kinase, protein phosphatase and inhibitor protein of nitrate reductase are ubiquitous in higher plants and independent of nitrate reductase expression and turnover

Nitrate reductase activity and NR protein levels in various leaf tissues were drastically decreased (<3.5% of normal activity) either by keeping detached leaves in continuous darkness for up to 6 d (spinach), or by growing plants (pea, squash) hydroponically on ammonium as the sole N-source, or by germinating and growing etiolated seedlings in complete darkness (squash). The presence of nitrate reductase protein kinase (NRPK), nitrate reductase protein phosphatase (NRPP) and inhibitor protein (IP) was examined by measuring the ability of NR-free desalted extracts to inactivate (ATP-dependent) and reactivate (5-AMP/EDTA-dependent) added purified spinach NR in vitro. Extracts from low-NR plants (ammonium-grown pea and squash) were also prepared from leaves harvested at the end of a normal light or dark phase, or after treating leaves with anaerobiosis, uncouplers or mannose, conditions which usually activate NR in nitrategrown normal plants. Without exception, extracts from NR-deficient plant tissues were able to inactivate and reactivate purified spinach NR with normal velocity, irrespective of pretreatment or time of harvest. Considerable NRPK, NRPP and IP activities were also found in extracts from almost NR-free ripe fruits (cucumber and tomato). Activities were totally absent, however, in extracts from isolated spinach chloroplasts. The NRPK and IP fractions were partially purified with normal yields from NR-deficient squash or spinach leaves, following the purification protocol worked out for nitrate-grown spinach. The Ca²⁺/Mg²⁺-dependent kinase fraction from NR-deficient squash or spinach phosphorylated added purified spinach NR with -[³²P]ATP and inactivated the enzyme after addition of IP. It is suggested (i) that the auxiliary proteins (NRPK, IP, NRPP) which modulate NR are rather species- or organ-unspecific, (ii) that they do not turn over as rapidly as does NR, (iii) that they are probably expressed independently of NR, and (iiii) that they are not covalently modulated, but under control of metabolic and/or physical signals which are removed by desalting.Abbreviations IP inhibitor protein - NR NADH-nitrate reductase - NRA nitrate reductase activity - NRPK nitrate reductase protein kinase - NRPP nitrate reductase protein phosphatase - PK protein kinase This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 251).     

The roles of nitrate and ammonium in the regulation of the development of nitrate reductase in Chlamydomonas reinhardii

The regulation of the development of nitrate reductase (NR) activity in Chlamydomonas reinhardii has been compared in a wild-type strain and in a mutant (nit-A) which possesses a modified nitrate reductase enzyme that is non-functional in vivo. The modified enzyme cannot use NAD(P)H as an electron donor for nitrate reduction and it differs from wild-type enzyme in that NR activity is not inactivated in vitro by incubation with NAD(P)H and small quantities of cyanide; it is inactivated when reduced benzyl viologen or flavin mononucleotide is present. After short periods of nitrogen starvation mutant organisms contain much higher levels of terminal-NR activity than do similarly treated wild-type ones. Despite the inability of the mutant to utilize nitrate, no nitrate or nitrite was found in nitrogen-starved cultures; it is therefore concluded that the appearance of NR activity is not a consequence of nitrification. After prolonged nitrogen starvation (22 h) the NR level in the mutant is low. It increases rapidly if nitrate is then added and this increase in activity does not occur in the presence of ammonium, tungstate or cycloheximide. Disappearance of preformed NR activity is stimulated by addition of tungstate and even more by addition of ammonium. The results are interpreted as evidence for a continuous turnover of NR in cells of the mutant with ammonium both stimulating NR breakdown and stopping NR synthesis. Nitrate protects the enzyme from breakdown. Reversible inactivation of NR activity is thought to play an insignificant rôle in the mutant.Abbreviations NR nitrate reductase - BV benzyl viologen     

硝酸盐对球形棕囊藻生长和硝酸还原酶活性的影响

以我国南海海域分离的赤潮原因种——球形棕囊藻(Phaeocystis globosa)为材料, 研究了不同硝酸盐浓度下藻细胞生长及硝酸还原酶活性的变化。当培养基中不含硝酸盐时, 藻细胞内硝酸还原酶的活性保持在非常低的水平, 藻细胞的生长受到限制, 不能形成正常的生长曲线: 当培养基中硝酸盐浓度为3.62 mmol.L-1时, 藻细胞的硝酸还原酶活性和比生长速率达到最大。在含有硝酸盐的培养基中, 接种培养后第9天藻细胞硝酸还原酶活性达到最大值, 并且在4种不同硝酸盐浓度下, 藻细胞硝酸还原酶活性的差异性达到极显著水平(P<0.01)。在接种培养第16天藻细胞密度达到最大值, 并且4种不同硝酸盐浓度培养的藻细胞密度之间的差异性也达到极显著水平(P<0.01)。实验结果表明, 在培养基中添加不同浓度的硝酸盐, 对球形棕囊藻细胞硝酸还原酶的活性和藻细胞的生长有极显著的影响, 含有较高硝酸盐的富营养化海域有利于球形棕囊藻细胞的持续生长。     

Regulation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa chemotaxis by the nitrogen source.

The regulation of amino acid chemotaxis by nitrogen was investigated in the gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The quantitative capillary tube technique was used to measure chemotactic responses of bacteria to spatial gradients of amino acids and other attractants. Chemotaxis toward serine, arginine, and alpha-aminoisobutyrate was sharply dependent on the form in which nitrogen was presented to the bacteria. Bacteria grown on mineral salts-succinate with potassium nitrate gave responses to amino acids that were 2 to 3 times those of cells grown on ammonium sulfate and 10 to 20 times those of cells grown in mineral salts-succinate with Casamino Acids as the nitrogen source. A combination of ammonium sulfate and glutamate was as effective as Casamino Acids in depressing serine taxis. The threshold concentration for alpha-aminoisobutyrate taxis was consistently lower in nitrate-grown bacteria than in ammonia-grown bacteria. Responsiveness to sodium succinate, however, was not subject to regulation by nitrogen, and glucose chemotaxis was inhibited, rather than enhanced, in nitrate-grown bacteria. These results indicate that chemotaxis of P. aeruginosa toward amino acids is subject to regulation by nitrogen and that this regulation probably is expressed at the level of the chemoreceptors or transducers.