2 research outputs found
Expression of root glutamate dehydrogenase genes in tobacco plants subjected to boron deprivation
Recently it has been reported that boron (B) deficiency increases the expression of Nicotiana tabacum asparagine synthetase (AS) gene in roots, and that AS might play a main role as a detoxifying mechanism to convert ammonium into asparagine. Interestingly, glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) genes, Ntgdh-NAD;A1 and Ntgdh-NAD;B2, were up-regulated when tobacco roots were subjected to B deprivation for 8 and 24Â h. In addition, aminating and deaminating GDH (EC 1.4.1.2) activities were higher in B-deficient than in B-sufficient plants after 24Â h of B deficiency. Ammonium concentrations were kept sufficiently low and with similar values in B-deficient roots when compared to control. Glucose and fructose contents decreased after 24Â h of B deprivation. This drop in hexoses, which was corroborated by metabolomic analysis, correlated with higher GDH gene expression. Furthermore, metabolomic profiling showed that concentrations of several organic acids, phenolics, and amino acids increased after 24Â h of B deficiency. Our results suggest that GDH enzyme plays an important role in metabolic acclimation of tobacco roots to B deprivation. A putative model to explain these results is proposed and discussed