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. 1990 Feb;92(2):434–439. doi: 10.1104/pp.92.2.434

Intact Plastids Are Required for Nitrate- and Light-Induced Accumulation of Nitrate Reductase Activity and mRNA in Squash Cotyledons 1

Rolf Oelmüller 1,2, Winslow R Briggs 1
PMCID: PMC1062310  PMID: 16667294

Abstract

Induction of nitrate reductase activity and mRNA by nitrate and light is prevented if chloroplasts are destroyed by photooxidation in norflurazon-treated squash (Cucurbita maxima L.) cotyledons. The enzyme activity and mRNA can be induced if norflurazon-treated squash seedlings are kept in low-intensity red light, which minimizes photodamage to the plastids. It is concluded that induction of nitrate reductase activity and nitrate reductase mRNA requires intact plastids. If squash seedlings grown in low-intensity red light are transferred to photooxidative white light, nitrate reductase activity accumulates during the first 12 hours after the shift and declines thereafter. Thus photodamage to the plastids and the disappearance of nitrate reductase activity and mRNA are events separable in time, and disappearance of the enzyme activity is a consequence of the damage to the plastids.

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Selected References

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

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