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Nitrate (NO(3)(-)) is a key nutrient as well as a signaling molecule that impacts both metabolism and development of plants. Understanding the complexity of the regulatory networks that control nitrate uptake, metabolism, and associated responses has the potential to provide solutions that address the major issues of nitrate pollution and toxicity that threaten agricultural and ecological sustainability and human health. Recently, major advances have been made in cataloguing the nitrate transcriptome and in identifying key components that mediate nitrate signaling. In this perspective, we describe the genes involved in nitrate regulation and how they influence nitrate transport and assimilation, and we discuss the role of systems biology approaches in elucidating the gene networks involved in NO(3)(-) signaling adaptation to fluctuating environments.

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Plants, like other organisms, have developed mechanisms that allow them to sense and respond to changes in levels of carbon and nitrogen metabolites. These mechanisms, in turn, regulate the expression of genes and the activities of proteins involved in C and N transport and metabolism, allowing plants to optimize the use of energy resources. Recent studies, which have involved molecular-genetic, genomic, and cell biological approaches, have begun to uncover the signals and components of C:N sensing and signaling mechanisms in plants. For sugar sensing, analysis of Arabidopsis mutants has revealed intersections with hormone and nitrogen signaling. For nitrogen sensing/signaling, recent progress has identified transcriptional and posttranslational mechanisms of regulation. In all, a complex picture is emerging in which C:N signaling systems are subject to a 'matrix effect' in which downstream responses are dependent upon cell-type, developmental, metabolic, and/or environmental conditions.

Recent analysis of genes encoding amino acid biosynthetic enzymes has begun to provide insights into the structure, function, and regulated expression of key biosynthetic enzymes. These molecular studies have begun to address the role of individual isoenzymes, their subcellular and cellular localizations, and the factors which regulate their expression. Because amino acids serve unique roles in plant nitrogen metabolism and because several amino acid biosynthetic enzymes are targets for commercial herbicides, these studies have significance in the area of plant biotechnology.

The identification and cloning of the gene(s) for plant asparagine synthetase (AS), an important enzyme involved in the formation of asparagine, a major nitrogen transport compound of higher plants is described. Expression vectors constructed with the AS coding sequence may be utilized to produce plant AS; to engineer herbicide resistant plants, salt/drought tolerant plants or pathogen resistant plants; as a dominant selectable marker; or to select for novel herbicides or compounds useful as agents that synchronize plant cells in culture. The promoter for plant AS, which directs high levels of gene expression and is induced in an organ specific manner and by darkness, is also described. The AS promoter may be used to direct the expression of heterologous coding sequences in appropriate hosts.

the oxi3 locus of yeast mitochondrial DNA has been sequenced in Saccharomyces cerevisiae D273-10B. The sequence was obtained from the mitochondrial genomes of a series of cytoplasmic "petite" mutants selected for the retention of genetic markers in the oxi3 locus. The oxi3 locus has been ascertained to code for Subunit 1 of cytochrome oxidase. The Subunit 1 gene is 9,979 nucleotides long, consisting of seven to eight exons that account for only 16% of the gene sequence. The coding sequences have been identified on the basis of protein sequence homology with Subunit 1 of human cytochrome oxidase. The yeast Subunit 1 is 510 amino acid residues long and has a molecular weight of 56,000. In addition to the exon sequences, the Subunit I gene contains six to seven introns. The first four introns have long reading frames that are continuous with the exon coding sequences. These reading frames are potentially capable of coding for basic proteins with molecular weights ranging from 30,000 to 80,000. The first two introns of the gene have a sequence homology of 50%, while the reading frame of the fourth intron is 70% homologous with an intron of the apocytochrome b gene. At least five stable transcripts have been found by Northern blot hybridizations with single-stranded DNA probes containing either exon or intron sequences. A 1.9-kolobase transcript hybridizes only with probes from the exon regions of the gene. This RNA species has been tentatively identified as the fully processed messenger of Subunit 1. Other transcripts are detected with intron probes. Three transcripts with sizes of 2.5, 2.4, and 0.85 kilobases appear to be stable excision products from the first, second, and fifth introns.

We have shown that the individual members of the plant gene family for glutamine synthetase (GS) are differentially expressed in vivo, and each encode distinct GS polypeptides which are targeted to different subcellular compartments (chloroplast or cytosol). At the polypeptide level, chloroplast GS (GS2) and cytosolic GS (GS1 and GSn) are distinct and show an organ-specific distribution. We have characterized full length cDNA clones encoding chloroplast or cytosolic GS of pea. In vitro translation products encoded by three different GS cDNA clones, correspond to the mature GS2, GS1, and GSn polypeptides present in vivo. pGS185 encodes a precursor to the chloroplast GS2 polypeptide as shown by in vitro chloroplast uptake experiments. The pGS185 translation product is imported into the chloroplast stroma and processed to a polypeptide which corresponds in size and charge to that of mature chloroplast stromal GS2 (44 kDa). The 49 amino terminal amino acids encoded by pGS185 are designated as a chloroplast transit peptide by functionality in vitro, and amino acid homology to other transit peptides. The cytosolic forms of GS (GS1 and GSn) are encoded by highly homologous but distinct mRNAs. pGS299 encodes the cytosolic GS1 polypeptide (38 kDa), while pGS341 (Tingey, S. V., Walker, E. L., and Coruzzi, G. M. (1987) EMBO. J. 6, 1-9) encodes a cytosolic GSn polypeptide (37 kDa). The homologous nuclear genes for chloroplast and cytosolic GS show different patterns of expression in vivo. GS2 expression in leaves is modulated by light, at the level of steady state mRNA and protein, while the expression of cytosolic GS is unaffected by light. The light-induced expression of GS2 is due at least in part to a phytochrome mediated response. Nucleotide sequence analysis indicates that chloroplast and cytosolic GS have evolved from a common ancestor and suggest a molecular mechanism for chloroplast evolution.

The oxi3 locus of yeast mitochondrial DNA is currently thought to code for Subunit 1 of cytochrome oxidase (Tzagoloff, A., Macino, G., and Sebald, W. (1979) Annu. Rev. Biochem. 48, 419-441). The respiratory competent strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae D273-10B/A48 was used to obtain cytoplasmic "petite" clones enriched for genetic markers in the oci3 locus. The most complex clone studied (DS6) was ascertained to have a mitochondrial genome with a tandemly repeated segment of mtDNA 16.5 kilobases in length. The oxi3 locus was dissected by mutagenesis of DS6 with ethidium bromide and selection of new clones having less complex genotypes. Six derivative clones with genome sizes ranging from 2.3 to 6.1 kilobases have been extensively analyzed. Most of the restriction sites present in the segments of mtDNA retained by the clones have been mapped, thereby providing a detailed restriction map of the oxi3 gene. Based on the physical locations of the most distal oxi3 mutations, the gene spans approximately 10,000 nucleotides and occupies the region of wild type mtDNA from 44 to 58 map units.

Two major chloroplast proteins are encoded by nuclear genes and synthesized on free cytoplasmic ribosomes: the small subunit of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and the apoprotein components of the chlorophyll a/b light harvesting complex. We have recently reported the isolation of two cDNA clones from pea which encode both the small subunit of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (pSS15) and the polypeptide 15 (pAB96), the major chlorophyll a/b binding protein (Broglie, R., Bellemare, G., Bartlett, S., Chua, N.-H., and Cashmore, A. R. (1981) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 7304-7308). To further characterize these clones, we determined their nucleotide sequence. Clone pSS15 contains a 691-base pair cDNA insert which encodes the entire 123 amino acids of the mature small subunit protein. In addition, this clone also encodes 33 amino acids of the NH2-terminal transit peptide extension and 148 nucleotides of the 3' noncoding region preceding the poly(A)tail. A second cDNA clone (pAB96) contains an 833-nucleotide insert which encodes most of polypeptide 15. The DNA sequence of this cloned cDNA was used to deduce the previously undetermined amino acid sequence of this integral thylakoid membrane protein. The nucleotide sequence of the cDNA clone, pSS15, should provide information concerning the role of the transit sequence in the transport of cytoplasmically synthesized chloroplast proteins. Similarly, the deduced amino acid sequence of polypeptide 15 will provide information for predicting its orientation in thylakoid membranes as well as its role in binding chlorophyll.

A cytoplasmic "petitie" mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (DS200/A1) has been isolated and determined to contain mitochondrial genetic markers in the oxi 1 locus. This locus has previously been reported to code for the structural gene of subunit 2 of cytochrome oxidase (Cabral et al. (1978) J. Biol. Chem. 243, 297-304). The segment of mitochondrial DNA retained in DS200/A1 has a repeat length of approximately 4500 base pairs and based on DNA sequencing contains a 756-nucleotide-long sequence that has been identified as the structural gene of subunit 2 of cytochrome oxidase. The presumptive gene sequence generates an amino acid sequence consistent with the reported molecular weight and composition of subunit 2 of yeast cytochrome oxidase. The correctness of the deduced amino acid sequence is further supported by its extensive homology to the primary structure of bovine cytochrome oxidase. The DNA segment of DS200/A1 has been located on the wild type mitochondrial DNA by comparative restriction mapping. The orientation of the COOH and NH2 termini and the direction of transcription of the gene have been determined.

The region of yeast mitochondrial DNA between 10.7 and 17.9 map units has been characterized by restriction analysis and DNA sequencing. The DNA sequence was obtained from the partially overlapping genomes of the two rho- mutants DS200/A1 and DS302. Two tRNA genes have been found in the sequence upstream of the oxi1 gene. The deduced secondary structures indicate that the genes code for the methionine (5'-CAU-3') and the asparagine (5'-GUU-3') tRNAs of yeast mitochondria. The region between 10.7 and 17.9 units contains two reading frames. One of these corresponds to the oxi1 gene previously shown to code for subunit 2 of cytochrome oxidase (Coruzzi, G., and Tzagoloff, A. (1979) J. Biol. Chem. 254,. 9324-9330; Fox, T. D. (1979) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 6534-6538). The second reading frame can potentially code for a basic protein with 386 amino acid residues. It is not known at present if this putative gene is translated in vivo. Northern blots of wild type mitochondrial RNA were hybridized to single-stranded probes from the oxi1 gene and flanking regions. The results of these analyses indicate that the primary transcript of the oxi1 region is a high molecular weight RNA (larger than 3 kilobase pairs) which is processed in discrete steps to a mature 850-nucleotide messenger. The 5' leader of the messenger has been established to be 54 nucleotides long and to have a sequence identical with that of the genomic DNA immediately upstream of the oxi1 gene.