Drought-Induced Effects on Nitrate Reductase Activity and mRNA and on the Coordination of Nitrogen and Carbon Metabolism in Maize Leaves1

Maize (Zea mays L.) plants were grown to the nine-leaf stage. Despite a saturating N supply, the youngest mature leaves (seventh position on the stem) contained little NO3− reserve. Droughted plants (deprived of nutrient solution) showed changes in foliar enzyme activities, mRNA accumulation, photosynthesis, and carbohydrate and amino acid contents. Total leaf water potential and CO2 assimilation rates, measured 3 h into the photoperiod, decreased 3 d after the onset of drought. Starch, glucose, fructose, and amino acids, but not sucrose (Suc), accumulated in the leaves of droughted plants. Maximal extractable phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activities increased slightly during water deficit, whereas the sensitivity of this enzyme to the inhibitor malate decreased. Maximal extractable Suc phosphate synthase activities decreased as a result of water stress, and there was an increase in the sensitivity to the inhibitor orthophosphate. A correlation between maximal extractable foliar nitrate reductase (NR) activity and the rate of CO2 assimilation was observed. The NR activation state and maximal extractable NR activity declined rapidly in response to drought. Photosynthesis and NR activity recovered rapidly when nutrient solution was restored at this point. The decrease in maximal extractable NR activity was accompanied by a decrease in NR transcripts, whereas Suc phosphate synthase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase mRNAs were much less affected. The coordination of N and C metabolism is retained during drought conditions via modulation of the activities of Suc phosphate synthase and NR commensurate with the prevailing rate of photosynthesis.

Involvement of cytochrome P450 in oxime production in glucosinolate biosynthesis as demonstrated by an in vitro microsomal enzyme system isolated from jasmonic acid-induced seedlings of Sinapis alba L.

An in vitro enzyme system for the conversion of amino acid to oxime in the biosynthesis of glucosinolates has been established by the combined use of an improved isolation medium and jasmonic acid-induced etiolated seedlings of Sinapis alba L. An 8-fold induction of de novo biosynthesis of the L-tyrosine-derived p-hydroxybenzylglucosinolate was obtained in etiolated S. alba seedlings upon treatment with jasmonic acid. Formation of inhibitory glucosinolate degradation products upon tissue homogenization was prevented by inactivation of myrosinase by addition of 100 mM ascorbic acid to the isolation buffer. The biosynthetically active microsomal enzyme system converted L-tyrosine into p-hydroxyphenylacetaldoxime and the production of oxime was strictly dependent on NADPH. The Km and Vmax values of the enzyme system were 346 microM and 538 pmol per mg of protein per h, respectively. The nature of the enzyme catalyzing the conversion of amino acid to oxime in the biosynthesis of glucosinolates has been subject of much speculation. In the present paper, we demonstrate the involvement of cytochrome P450 by photoreversible inhibition by carbon monoxide. The inhibitory effect of numerous cytochrome P450 inhibitors confirms the involvement of cytochrome P450. This provides experimental documentation of similarity between the enzymes converting amino acids into the corresponding oximes in the biosynthesis of glucosinolates and cyanogenic glycosides.

Free amino acids exhibit anthozoan "host factor" activity: they induce the release of photosynthate from symbiotic dinoflagellates in vitro.

Reef-building corals and other tropical anthozoans harbor endosymbiotic dinoflagellates. It is now recognized that the dinoflagellates are fundamental to the biology of their hosts, and their carbon and nitrogen metabolisms are linked in important ways. Unlike free living species, growth of symbiotic dinoflagellates is unbalanced and a substantial fraction of the carbon fixed daily by symbiont photosynthesis is released and used by the host for respiration and growth. Release of fixed carbon as low molecular weight compounds by freshly isolated symbiotic dinoflagellates is evoked by a factor (i.e., a chemical agent) present in a homogenate of host tissue. We have identified this "host factor" in the Hawaiian coral Pocillopora damicornis as a set of free amino acids. Synthetic amino acid mixtures, based on the measured free amino acid pools of P. damicornis tissues, not only elicit the selective release of 14C-labeled photosynthetic products from isolated symbiotic dinoflagellates but also enhance total 14CO2 fixation.