Identification and characterization of a null-activity mutant containing a cryptic pre-mRNA splice site for cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase in Flaveria linearis

Cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (cytFBPase) (E.C. 3.1.3.11) catalyzes the first irreversible reaction of daytime sucrose synthesis. A Flaveria linearis (F. linearis) mutant (line 84-9) previously shown to have ~10% wildtype cytFBPase activity contains no cytFBPase activity based on enzymatic and immunoprecipitation analysis. Genetic segregation and Southern analysis of an F2 population shows one gene copy of cytFBPase in F. linearis and linkage of null cytFBPase activity to the cytFBPase structural gene. A point mutation is present in the structural gene coding for cytFBPase in the mutant, causing a cryptic pre-mRNA splice site and a corresponding 24 amino acid deletion spanning the active site of the enzyme. Collectively, these data support the identification of a null-activity mutant for cytFBPase in F. linearis. This is the first report of a null mutant in the daytime sucrose synthesis pathway confirmed by both enzymatic and molecular analysis. Null cytFBPase in F. linearis does not predispose all lines to high starch accumulation due to an epistatic gene interaction; low starch accumulation in null cytFBPase lines segregates with elevated pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase (PFP) activity when grown in a 16 h photoperiod. Surprisingly, growth of parental lines and F2 progeny having null cytFBPase in continuous light rescued the wildtype growth phenotype. All null cytFBPase lines showed CO(2)-insensitivity/reversed sensitivity of photosynthesis, indicating that null cytFBPase causes a reduced total capacity for both photosynthesis and end-product synthesis regardless of starch and PFP phenotype. Collectively, the data indicate that F. linearis, a C3-C4 photosynthetic intermediate, has alternative cytFBPase-independent pathways for daytime sucrose synthesis.

Diel patterns of leaf C export and of main shoot growth for Flaveria linearis with altered leaf sucrose-starch partitioning

Diel C export from source leaves of two Flaveria linearis lines [85-1: high cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (cytFBPase) and 84-9: low cytFBPase] were estimated using three methods, including leaf steady-state (14)CO(2) labelling, leaf metabolite analysis, and leaf dry mass analysis in conjunction with leaf CO(2) exchange measurements. Synthesis and accumulation of starch during the daytime were much higher in 84-9. Relative (14)C-export (export as a % of photosynthesis) in the light was 36% higher in 85-1. The diel export patterns from (14)C-analyses correlated with those based on metabolite or dry weight/gas exchange analyses during the daytime, but not during the night. Night-time export estimated from (14)C-disappearance was 3.6 times lower than those estimated using the other methods. Even though the starch degradation at night was greater for 84-9, night-time export in 84-9 was similar to 85-1, since 84-9 showed both higher respiration and accumulation of soluble sugars (i.e. glucose) at night. Patterns of (14)C allocation to sink organs were also different in the two lines. Main stem growth was less in 84-9, being reduced most in the light when leaf export was lower relative to 85-1. Supplementation with sucrose for 1 h daily via the roots at a time when leaf export in 84-9 was low relative to 85-1 increased the stem growth rate of 84-9 to a level similar with that of 85-1. This study provides evidence that diel C availability predicted by source strength (e.g. C-export rate) influences main stem extension growth and the pattern of sink development in F. linearis.

Carbon Partitioning in a Flaveria linearis Mutant with Reduced Cytosolic Fructose Bisphosphatase

Oxygen sensitivity and partitioning of carbon was measured in a mutant line of Flaveria linearis that lacks most of the cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase found in wild-type lines. Photosynthesis of leaves of the mutant line was nearly insensitive to O(2), as found before. The mutant plants partitioned 2.5 times less carbon into sucrose than the wild type in a pulse chase experiment, with the extra carbon going mainly to starch but also to amino acids. From 10 to 50 min postlabeling, radioactivity chased out of the amino acid fraction to starch in both lines. In the middle of the light period, starch grains were larger in the mutant than in the wild type and covered 30% of the chloroplast area as seen with an electron microscope. Starch grains were found in both mesophyll and bundle sheath chloroplasts in both lines in these C(3)-C(4) intermediate plants. At the end of the dark period, the starch levels were considerably reduced from what they were in the middle of the light in both lines. The concentration of sucrose was higher in the mutant line despite the lack of cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase. The amino acid fraction accounted for about 30% of all label following a 10-min chase period. In the mutant line, most of the label was in the glycine + serine fraction, with 10% in the alanine fraction. In wild-type leaves, 35% of the label in amino acids was in alanine. These results indicate that this mutant survives the reduced cytosolic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase activity by partitioning more carbon to starch and less to sucrose during the day and remobilizing the excess starch at night. However, these results raise two other questions about this mutant. First, why is the sucrose concentration high in a plant that partitions less carbon to sucrose, and second, why is alanine heavily labeled in the wild-type plants but not in the mutant plants?

Arginine Metabolism in Developing Soybean Cotyledons: III. Utilization

Tracerkinetic experiments were performed using l-[guanidino-(14)C]arginine, l-[U-(14)C]arginine, l-[ureido-(14)C]citrulline, and l-[1-(14)C]ornithine to investigate arginine utilization in developing cotyledons of Glycine max (L.) Merrill. Excised cotyledons were injected with carrier-free (14)C compounds and incubated in sealed vials containing a CO(2) trap. The free and protein amino acids were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography and arginine-specific enzyme-linked assays. After 4 hours, 75% and 90% of the (14)C metabolized from [guanidino-(14)C]arginine and [U-(14)C]arginine, respectively, was in protein arginine. The net protein arginine accumulation rate, calculated from the depletion of nitrogenous solutes in the cotyledon during incubation, was 17 nanomoles per cotyledon per hour. The data indicated that arginine was also catabolized by the arginase-urease reactions at a rate of 5.5 nanomoles per cotyledon per hour. Between 2 and 4 hours (14)CO(2) was also evolved from carbons other than C-6 of arginine at a rate of 11.0 nanomoles per cotyledon per hour. It is suggested that this extra (14)CO(2) was evolved during the catabolism of ornithine-derived glutamate; (14)C-ornithine was a product of the arginase reaction. A model for the estimated fluxes associated with arginine utilization in developing soybean cotyledons is presented.The maximum specific radioactivity ratios between arginine in newly synthesized protein and total free arginine in the (14)C-citrulline and (14)C-ornithine experiments indicated that only 3% of the free arginine was in the protein precursor pool, and that argininosuccinate and citrulline were present in multiple pools.

Arginine metabolism in developing soybean cotyledons : I. Relationship to nitrogen nutrition

The free and protein amino acid composition of Glycine max (L.) Merrill cotyledons was determined for the entire developmental period using high performance liquid chromatography. Arginine constituted 18% of the total protein nitrogen throughout development, and there was a linear arginine nitrogen accumulation rate of 1212 nanomoles per cotyledon per day between 16 and 58 days after anthesis. Arginine and asparagine were major constituents of the free amino acid pool, constituting 14 to 62% and 2 to 41% of the total free amino acid nitrogen, respectively. The urea cycle intermediates, citrulline, ornithine, and argininosuccinate were also detected in the free pool. A comparison of the amino acid composition of cotyledonary protein and of seedcoat exudate suggested that 72% of the cotyledon's arginine requirement is satisfied by in situ biosynthesis, and that 20% of the transformed nitrogen is incorporated into arginine. Also, [1-(14)C]glutamate and [U-(14)C]glutamine were fed to excised cotyledons. After 4 hours, (14)C was incorporated into protein and released as (14)CO(2), but none was incorporated into the C-1 and C-6 positions of free and protein arginine, determined using arginine-specific enzyme-linked assays. It is not currently known whether arginine biosynthesis in the cotyledon involves glutamate delivered from the mother plant or glutamate derived in situ.

Arginine Metabolism in Developing Soybean Cotyledons : II. Biosynthesis

Tracer kinetic experiments were performed using [ureido-(14)C] citrulline, [1-(14)C]ornithine, and isotope trapping techniques to determine if arginine is synthesized via the urea cycle in developing cotyledons of Glycine max (L.) Merrill. Excised cotyledons were injected with the (14)C-solution and incubated in sealed vials containing a CO(2) trap. The free and protein amino acids were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography and arginine-specific enzyme-linked assays. In the (14)C-citrulline feeding experiment argininosuccinate was the most highly labeled compound after 5 minutes and it was the first compound to lose (14)C later in the time course. Carbon-14 was also recovered in free arginine, protein arginine, and CO(2) up to 4 hours after introduction of label. All of the (14)C in free and protein arginine could be accounted for in the C-6 position. Metabolism of (14)C-ornithine resulted in (14)C-incorporation into citrulline and free and protein arginine and the evolution of (14)CO(2). Citrulline was the most highly labeled compound after 15 minutes and was the first compound to reach a steady state level of (14)C. With the addition of 800 nanomoles unlabeled citrulline to the (14)C-ornithine feeding solution citrulline was the only compound labeled after 5 minutes and the steady state level of (14)C-citrulline increased 12-fold. The appearance of (14)C in free arginine and protein arginine was also delayed. In both (14)C-ornithine feedings all of the (14)C in free and protein arginine could be accounted for in the C-1 position. Together, the data support the reaction sequence: ornithine --> citrulline --> argininosuccinate --> arginine --> protein arginine.