Analysis of the NRT2 Nitrate Transporter Family in Arabidopsis. Structure and Gene Expression

• Published in: Plant physiology (Bethesda) Vol. 129; no. 2; pp. 886 - 896
• Main Authors: Mathilde Orsel, Krapp, Anne, Daniel-Vedele, Françoise
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society of Plant Biologists 01.06.2002; Oxford University Press ; American Society of Plant Biologists; American Society of Plant Physiologists
• Subjects: Anion Transport Proteins; Anion Transport Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - growth & development; Arabidopsis Proteins; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis thaliana; binding proteins; Biological Transport, Active; Biological Transport, Active - genetics; chemical constituents of plants; drug effects; exons; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental - drug effects; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - drug effects; Genes; Genes, Plant; Genes, Plant - genetics; Genetics; Genetics, Genomics, and Molecular Evolution; Genomes; growth & development; introns; Leaves; Life Sciences; Messenger RNA; metabolism; Multigene Family; Multigene Family - genetics; Nitrates; Nitrates - pharmacology; Nitrogen; nutrient transport; Nutritional status; pharmacology; Phylogeny; physiology; plant development; Plant growth; Plant Proteins; Plant roots; Plants; Plants genetics; Polymerase chain reaction; Protein Isoforms; Protein Isoforms - genetics; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Signal Transduction; Signal Transduction - physiology; Translocation; GENE NRT2; TRANSPORT DES SUBSTANCES NUTRITIVES; CROISSANCE DE LA PLANTE; SYSTEME DE TRANSPORT A HAUTE AFFINITE
• DOI: 10.1104/pp.005280
• ISSN: 0032-0889

Nitrate is an essential element for plant growth, both as a primary nutrient in the nitrogen assimilation pathway and as an important signal for plant development. The uptake of nitrate from the soil and its translocation throughout the plant has been the subject of intensive physiological and molecular studies. Using a reverse genetic approach, the AtNRT2.1 gene has been shown to be involved in the inducible component of the high-affinity nitrate transport system in Arabidopsis. The Arabidopsis Genome Initiative has released nearly the whole genome sequence of Arabidopsis, allowing the identification of a small NRT2 multigene family in this species. Thus, we investigated the phylogenetic relationship between NRT2 proteins belonging to several kingdoms and compared the structure of the different members of the Arabidopsis family. We analyzed, by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, the expression pattern of each gene depending on plant organ and development or nutritional status, and compared the relative level of each gene by real-time polymerase chain reaction. We also evaluated the significance of each paralog on the basis of the relative levels of gene expression. The results are discussed in relation with distinct roles for the individual members of the AtNRT2 family.