Suppression of glutamate synthase genes significan

Authors: YongEn Lu Feng Luo Meng Yang XiangHua Li XingMing Lian

Publish Date: 2011/07/12

Volume: 54, Issue: 7, Pages: 651-663

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Abstract

Rice Oryza sativa glutamate synthase GOGAT EC 14114 enzymes have been proposed to have great potential for improving nitrogen use efficiency but their functions in vivo and their effects on carbon and nitrogen metabolism have not been systematically explored In this research we analyzed transcriptional profiles of rice GOGAT genes using a genomewide microarray database and investigated the effects of suppression of glutamate synthase genes on carbon and nitrogen metabolism using GOGAT cosuppressed rice plants Transcriptional profiles showed that rice GOGAT genes were expressed differently in various tissues and organs which suggested that they have different roles in vivo Compared with the wildtype tiller number total shoot dry weight and yield of GOGAT cosuppressed plants were significantly decreased Physiological and biochemical studies showed that the contents of nitrate several kinds of free amino acids chlorophyll sugars sugar phosphates and pyridine nucleotides were significantly decreased in leaves of GOGAT cosuppressed plants but the contents of free ammonium 2oxoglutarate and isocitrate in leaves were increased We conclude that GOGATs play essential roles in carbon and nitrogen metabolism and that they are indispensable for efficient nitrogen assimilation in riceThis article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original authors and source are creditedThis article is published under an open access license Please check the Copyright Information section for details of this license and what reuse is permitted If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and reuse information please contact the Rights and Permissions team

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