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Nitrogen Assimilation and its Regulation

  • Chapter
The Molecular Biology of Chloroplasts and Mitochondria in Chlamydomonas

Part of the book series: Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration ((AIPH,volume 7))

Summary

Nitrogen is available in the environment in different redox states and in a wide variety of nitrogenous compounds. Algal cells are capable of assimilating nitrogen from many of these molecules into, ultimately, the amino group of glutamate. In this chapter, recent findings on nitrogen assimilation pathways in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii are reviewed. Specific transport systems are required to take up nitrogenous compounds, though most amino acids are deaminated extracellularly. Ammonium is the preferred nitrogen source. The presence of ammonium both represses and inhibits the utilization of alternative nitrogen compounds. Purines are assimilated phototrophically and catabolized to generate urea and then ammonium by the standard aerobic pathway that operates in other organisms. The nitrate assimilation pathway has been dissected at the molecular level and a useful collection of mutants is now available. The mutants are affected at various steps: nitrate/nitrite transport, nitrate and nitrite reduction, biosynthesis of molybdopterin cofactor, and regulation of the pathway. At least six genes which might encode structural elements for this pathway are clustered together within a 45 kb genomic region. They show coordinated regulation with a similar response to different nutritional or environmental effectors. Regulatory elements responsible for molecular mechanisms of control, including sensing of nitrate and ammonium and the transduction of these signals, are starting to be defined. More research is required for resolution of the details.

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Abbreviations

AAO:

amino acid oxidase

AAT:

aspartate amino transferase

ABC:

ATP-binding cassette

AST:

alanine amino transferase

fd:

ferredoxin

GDH:

glutamate dehydrogenase

GS:

glutamine synthetase

GOGA:

glutamate synthase

HANT:

high affinity nitrate transporter / HANiT high affinity nitrite transporter

LAO:

L-amino acid oxidase

MFS:

major facilitator superfamily

MoCo:

molybdopterin cofactor

MoCoCP:

MoCo Carrier Protein

MSX:

methionine-D,L-sulfoximine

MVH:

reduced methyl viologen

NR:

nitrate reductase

NiR:

nitrite reductase

OG:

2-oxoglutarate

NT:

nitrate transporter

NiT:

nitrite transporter

PLP:

pyridoxal phosphate

POT:

proton-dependent oligopeptide transporter

PPT:

phosphinothricin

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  1. Alberto Quesada

    Present address: Departamento de Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Jaén, 23071, Jaén, Spain

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  1. Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular e Instituto Andaluz de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Córdoba, E-14071, Córdoba, Spain

    Emilio Fernández, Aurora Galván & Alberto Quesada

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  1. Emilio Fernández
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  2. Aurora Galván
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  1. Departments of Molecular Biology and Plant Biology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    J. -D. Rochaix  & M. Goldschmidt-Clermont  & 

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA

    S. Merchant

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Fernández, E., Galván, A., Quesada, A. (1998). Nitrogen Assimilation and its Regulation. In: Rochaix, J.D., Goldschmidt-Clermont, M., Merchant, S. (eds) The Molecular Biology of Chloroplasts and Mitochondria in Chlamydomonas. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48204-5_33

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48204-5_33

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