OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

This Article Free via Open Access: OA OA Full Text Full Text (PDF) PPT slides of all figures Supplemental Data OA All Versions of this Article: 20/12/3289    most recent tpc.107.056788v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Web of Science (6) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Almagro, A. Articles by Tsay, Y. F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Almagro, A. Articles by Tsay, Y. F. Pubmed/NCBI databases Gene GEO Profiles HomoloGene Protein UniGene Substance via MeSH Agricola Articles by Almagro, A. Articles by Tsay, Y. F.

Characterization of the Arabidopsis Nitrate Transporter NRT1.6 Reveals a Role of Nitrate in Early Embryo Development^[W],[OA]

Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan

¹ Address correspondence to yftsay{at}gate.sinica.edu.tw.

This study of the Arabidopsis thaliana nitrate transporter NRT1.6 indicated that nitrate is important for early embryo development. Functional analysis of cDNA-injected Xenopus laevis oocytes showed that NRT1.6 is a low-affinity nitrate transporter and does not transport dipeptides. RT-PCR, in situ hybridization, and β-glucuronidase reporter gene analysis showed that expression of NRT1.6 is only detectable in reproductive tissue (the vascular tissue of the silique and funiculus) and that expression increases immediately after pollination, suggesting that NRT1.6 is involved in delivering nitrate from maternal tissue to the developing embryo. In nrt1.6 mutants, the amount of nitrate accumulated in mature seeds was reduced and the seed abortion rate increased. In the mutants, abnormalities (i.e., excessive cell division and loss of turgidity), were found mainly in the suspensor cells at the one- or two-cell stages of embryo development. The phenotype of the nrt1.6 mutants revealed a novel role of nitrate in early embryo development. Interestingly, the seed abortion rate of the mutant was reduced when grown under N-deficient conditions, suggesting that nitrate requirements in early embryo development can be modulated in response to external nitrogen changes.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Masclaux-Daubresse, F. Daniel-Vedele, J. Dechorgnat, F. Chardon, L. Gaufichon, and A. Suzuki Nitrogen uptake, assimilation and remobilization in plants: challenges for sustainable and productive agriculture Ann. Bot., June 1, 2010; 105(7): 1141 - 1157. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S.-C. Fan, C.-S. Lin, P.-K. Hsu, S.-H. Lin, and Y.-F. Tsay The Arabidopsis Nitrate Transporter NRT1.7, Expressed in Phloem, Is Responsible for Source-to-Sink Remobilization of Nitrate PLANT CELL, September 1, 2009; 21(9): 2750 - 2761. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]