Skip to main content
PMC home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1988 Nov;88(3):741–746. doi: 10.1104/pp.88.3.741

Molecular Cloning of Complementary DNA Encoding Maize Nitrite Reductase

Molecular Analysis and Nitrate Induction

Kristine Lahners 1, Vance Kramer 1, Eduard Back 1,1, Laura Privalle 1, Steven Rothstein 1,2
PMCID: PMC1055653  PMID: 16666376

Abstract

Complementary DNA has been isolated that codes for maize nitrite reductase (NiR) by using the corresponding spinach gene (E Back et al. 1988 Mol Gen Genet 212:20-26) as a heterologous probe. The sequences of the complementary DNAs from the two species are 66% homologous while the deduced amino acid sequences are 86% similar when analogous amino acids are included. A high percentage of the differences in the DNA sequences is due to the extremely strong bias in the corn gene to have a G/C base in the third codon position with 559/569 codons ending in a G or C. Using a hydroponic system, maize seedlings grown in the absence of an exogenous nitrogen source were induced with nitrate or nitrite. Nitrate stimulated a rapid induction of the NiR mRNA in both roots and leaves. There is also a considerable induction of this gene in roots upon the addition of nitrite, although under the conditions used the final mRNA level was not as high as when nitrate was the inducer. There is a small but detectable level of NiR mRNA in leaves prior to induction, but no constitutive NiR mRNA can be seen in the roots. Analysis of genomic DNA supports the notion that there are at least two NiR genes in maize.

Full text

PDF
741

Images in this article

744Fig. 3
on p.744
745Fig. 4
on p.745
745Fig. 5
on p.745

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aparicio P. J., Knaff D. B., Malkin R. The role of an iron-sulfur center and siroheme in spinach nitrite reductase. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1975 Jul;169(1):102–107. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(75)90321-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baker A., Leaver C. J. Isolation and sequence analysis of a cDNA encoding the ATP/ADP translocator of Zea mays L. Nucleic Acids Res. 1985 Aug 26;13(16):5857–5867. doi: 10.1093/nar/13.16.5857. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Calza R, Huttner E, Vincentz M, Rouzé P, Galangau F, Vaucheret H, Chérel I, Meyer C, Kronenberger J, Caboche M. Cloning of DNA fragments complementary to tobacco nitrate reductase mRNA and encoding epitopes common to the nitrate reductases from higher plants. Mol Gen Genet. 1987 Oct;209(3):552–562. doi: 10.1007/BF00331162. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Crawford N. M., Campbell W. H., Davis R. W. Nitrate reductase from squash: cDNA cloning and nitrate regulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Nov;83(21):8073–8076. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.21.8073. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dalling M. J., Hucklesby D. P., Hageman R. H. A Comparison of Nitrite Reductase Enzymes from Green Leaves, Scutella, and Roots of Corn (Zea mays L.). Plant Physiol. 1973 Mar;51(3):481–484. doi: 10.1104/pp.51.3.481. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gupta S. C., Beevers L. Regulation of nitrite reductase : cell-free translation and processing. Plant Physiol. 1987 Apr;83(4):750–754. doi: 10.1104/pp.83.4.750. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Heath-Pagliuso S., Huffaker R. C., Allard R. W. Inheritance of nitrite reductase and regulation of nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, and glutamine synthetase isozymes. Plant Physiol. 1984 Oct;76(2):353–358. doi: 10.1104/pp.76.2.353. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Izui K., Ishijima S., Yamaguchi Y., Katagiri F., Murata T., Shigesada K., Sugiyama T., Katsuki H. Cloning and sequence analysis of cDNA encoding active phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase of the C4-pathway from maize. Nucleic Acids Res. 1986 Feb 25;14(4):1615–1628. doi: 10.1093/nar/14.4.1615. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lips S. H., Roth-Bejerano N. Light and hormones: interchangeability in the induction of nitrate reductase. Science. 1969 Oct 3;166(3901):109–110. doi: 10.1126/science.166.3901.109. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. McClure P. R., Omholt T. E., Pace G. M., Bouthyette P. Y. Nitrate-induced changes in protein synthesis and translation of RNA in maize roots. Plant Physiol. 1987 May;84(1):52–57. doi: 10.1104/pp.84.1.52. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. McRee D. E., Richardson D. C., Richardson J. S., Siegel L. M. The heme and Fe4S4 cluster in the crystallographic structure of Escherichia coli sulfite reductase. J Biol Chem. 1986 Aug 5;261(22):10277–10281. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Moore R. E., Davies M. S., O'Connell K. M., Harding E. I., Wiegand R. C., Tiemeier D. C. Cloning and expression of a cDNA encoding a maize glutathione-S-transferase in E. coli. Nucleic Acids Res. 1986 Sep 25;14(18):7227–7235. doi: 10.1093/nar/14.18.7227. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Murphy M. J., Siegel L. M., Tove S. R., Kamin H. Siroheme: a new prosthetic group participating in six-electron reduction reactions catalyzed by both sulfite and nitrite reductases. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1974 Mar;71(3):612–616. doi: 10.1073/pnas.71.3.612. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Okayama H., Berg P. High-efficiency cloning of full-length cDNA. Mol Cell Biol. 1982 Feb;2(2):161–170. doi: 10.1128/mcb.2.2.161. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Small I. S., Gray J. C. Synthesis of wheat leaf nitrite reductase de novo following induction with nitrate and light. Eur J Biochem. 1984 Dec 3;145(2):291–297. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1984.tb08551.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Young R. A., Davis R. W. Efficient isolation of genes by using antibody probes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Mar;80(5):1194–1198. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.5.1194. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES