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 NO–3 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 ¹⁵NO–3, 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.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Arabidopsis thaliana, nitrate, nitrogen assimilation, oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, plastid, 6-phosphogluconolactonase
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Plant biology
Research Field:	Plant physiology
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences
UTAS Author:	Smith, SM (Professor Steven Smith)
ID Code:	101419
Year Published:	2013
Web of Science® Times Cited:	27
Deposited By:	Plant Science
Deposited On:	2015-06-23
Last Modified:	2017-11-02
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