Nitrate reductase-deficient mutant cell lines of Nicotiana tabacum

The Final Step in Molybdenum Cofactor Biosynthesis-A Historical View

Molybdenum (Mo) is an essential micronutrient across all kingdoms of life, where it functions as a key component of the active centers of molybdenum-dependent enzymes. For these enzymes to gain catalytic activity, Mo must be complexed with a pterin scaffold to form the molybdenum cofactor (Moco). The final step of Moco biosynthesis is catalyzed by the enzyme Mo-insertase. This review focuses on eukaryotic Mo-insertases, with an emphasis on those found in plants and mammals, which have been instrumental in advancing the understanding of Mo biochemistry. Additionally, a historical perspective is provided, tracing the discovery of Mo-insertase from the early 1960s to the detailed characterization of its reaction mechanism in 2021. This review also highlights key milestones in the study of Mo-insertase, including mutant characterization, gene cloning, structural elucidation at the atomic level, functional domain assignment, and the spatial organization of the enzyme within cellular protein networks.

The History of Animal and Plant Sulfite Oxidase-A Personal View

Sulfite oxidase is one of five molybdenum-containing enzymes known in eukaryotes where it catalyzes the oxidation of sulfite to sulfate. This review covers the history of sulfite oxidase research starting out with the early years of its discovery as a hepatic mitochondrial enzyme in vertebrates, leading to basic biochemical and structural properties that have inspired research for decades. A personal view on sulfite oxidase in plants, that sulfates are assimilated for their de novo synthesis of cysteine, is presented by Ralf Mendel with numerous unexpected findings and unique properties of this single-cofactor sulfite oxidase localized to peroxisomes. Guenter Schwarz connects his research to sulfite oxidase via its deficiency in humans, demonstrating its unique role amongst all molybdenum enzymes in humans. In essence, in both the plant and animal kingdoms, sulfite oxidase represents an important player in redox regulation, signaling and metabolism, thereby connecting sulfur and nitrogen metabolism in multiple ways.

The History of the Molybdenum Cofactor-A Personal View

The transition element molybdenum (Mo) is an essential micronutrient for plants, animals, and microorganisms, where it forms part of the active center of Mo enzymes. To gain biological activity in the cell, Mo has to be complexed by a pterin scaffold to form the molybdenum cofactor (Moco). Mo enzymes and Moco are found in all kingdoms of life, where they perform vital transformations in the metabolism of nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon compounds. In this review, I recall the history of Moco in a personal view, starting with the genetics of Moco in the 1960s and 1970s, followed by Moco biochemistry and the description of its chemical structure in the 1980s. When I review the elucidation of Moco biosynthesis in the 1990s and the early 2000s, I do it mainly for eukaryotes, as I worked with plants, human cells, and filamentous fungi. Finally, I briefly touch upon human Moco deficiency and whether there is life without Moco.

Genetic analysis of nitrate reductase-deficient mutants in Chlamydomonas reinhardii

Six mutants (305, 301, 203, 307, 104 and 102) of Chlamydomonas reinhardii, all defective in nitrate reductase (NR) activity, have been genetically analyzed. All except 102 carry single Mendelian mutations.Mutant 305, defective in diaphorase activity and mutant 301, defective in terminal enzyme activity, did not give rise to wild-type recombinants when crossed to each other or with the nit-1 mutant isolated from strain 137c (which is actually a double mutant nit-1 nit-2). Nit-1 was shown to lack both diaphorase and terminal activities. Whether the mutated sites in 305 and 301 are located in a unique cistron (nit-1) or in two adjacent cistrons (nit-1a and nit-1b) coding for a diaphorase subunit and a terminal subunit of NR is discussed in the light of previous biochemical findings.The 203 mutation affecting a regulatory gene did not recombine with nit-2, the other mutated locus present in strain 137c.Mutants 307, 104 and 102, all lacking molybdenum cofactor for both NR and xanthine dehydrogenase, where shown to be affected in different loci. The genes mutated in 307 and 104 have been designated nit-3 and nit-4, respectively. The 102 strain is mutated in two non-linked loci, nit-5 and nit-6, with both mutations required to confer the mutant phenotype. One of these cryptic mutations is present in the "wild" strain 21gr.The results indicate that at least six or seven loci are involved in the production of an active NR enzyme: one (nit-1) or two (nit-1a and nit-1b) cistrons to produce the NR apoproteins responsible for the partial activities diaphorase and terminal, one locus (nit-2) for the regulation of NR synthesis, and four loci (nit-3, nit-4, nit-5 and nit-6) to produce the molybdenum cofactor. The loci nit-1a and nit-2 seem to correspond to the nit-A and nit-B loci described by Nichols and Syrett (J Gen Microbiol 108:71-77, 1978).

Viscosity Effects on Eukaryotic Nitrate Reductase Activity

Rate-limiting processes of catalysis by eukaryotic molybdenum-containing nitrate reductase (NaR, EC 1.7.1.1-3) were investigated using two viscosogens (glycerol and sucrose) and observing their impact on NAD(P)H:NaR activity of corn leaf NaR and recombinant Arabidopsis and yeast NaR. Holo-NaR has two "hinge" sequences between stably folded regions housing its internal electron carriers: 1) Hinge 1 between the molybdenum-containing nitrate reducing module and cytochrome b domain containing heme and 2) Hinge 2 between cytochrome b and cytochrome b reductase (CbR) module containing FAD. Solution viscosity negatively impacted the activity of these holo-NaR forms, which suggests that the rate-limiting events in catalysis were likely to involve large conformational changes that restrict or "gate" internal electron-proton transfers (IET). Little effect of viscosity was observed on recombinant CbR module and methyl viologen nitrate reduction by holo-NaR, suggesting that these activities involved no large conformational changes. To determine whether Hinge 2 is involved in gating the first step in IET, the effects of viscosogen on cytochrome c and ferricyanide reductase activities of holo-NaR and ferricyanide reductase activity of the recombinant molybdenum reductase module (CbR, Hinge 2, and cytochrome b) were analyzed. Solution viscosity negatively impacted these partial activities, as if Hinge 2 were involved in gating IET in both enzyme forms. We concluded that both Hinges 1 and 2 appear to be involved in gating IET steps by restricting the movement of the cytochrome b domain relative to the larger nitrate-reducing and electron-donating modules of NaR.

The aldox-2 locus of Drosophila melanogaster also affects sulfite oxidase and molybdenum metabolism

Mutation at the aldox-2 locus in Drosophila melanogaster affects the specific activities of four molybdoenzymes differentially during development. Sulfite oxidase activity is normal during late larval and pupal stages but is reduced during early adult stages in aldox-2 organisms. There was complete concordance among the effects of aldox-2 on sulfite oxidase, aldehyde oxidase, xanthine dehydrogenase, and pyridoxal oxidase, when 38 stocks were analyzed which were derived from single recombination events between c and px, markers which flank aldox-2. Several different biochemical analyses indicate that the active molybdoenzymes present in the aldox-2 strain are normal with respect to size, shape, pH-activity profile, Km, and molecular weight. Significant differences were found between the aldox-2 strain and the OR control strain in their responses to dietary Na2MoO4 and Na2WO4. The mutant strain is much more resistant to the effects of dietary Na2WO4 and much more responsive to the administration of Na2MoO4 than the OR control strain when these effects are quantitated by measurements of molybdoenzyme specific activities. This evidence suggests that the aldox-2+ gene product has a molybdenum binding site which can also bind tungsten and that this site is altered in the mutant strain. The hypothesis presented explains the observed effects of the aldox-2 mutation and relates them to the other mutations reported in this gene-enzyme system.

Bromphenol blue: nitrate reductase activity in Nicotiana plumbaginifolia: an immunochemical and genetic approach

NADH: nitrate reductase (EC 1.6.6.1) was purified from Nicotiana plumbaginifolia leaves. As recently observed with nitrate reductase from other sources, this enzyme is able to reduce nitrate using reduced bromphenol blue (rBPB) as the electron donor. In contrast to the physiological NADH-dependent activity, the rBPB-dependent activity is stable in vitro. The latter activity is non-competitively inhibited by NADH. The monoclonal antibody ZM.96(9)25, which inhibits the NADH: nitrate reductase total activity as well as the NADH: cytochrome c reductase and reduced methyl viologen (rMV): nitrate reductase partial activities, has no inhibitory effect on the rBPB: nitrate reductase activity. Conversely, the monoclonal antibody NP.17-7(6) inhibits nitrate reduction with all three electron donors: NADH, MV or BPB. Among various nitrate reductase-deficient mutants, an apoprotein gene mutant (nia. E56) shows reduced terminal activities but a highly increased rBPB:nitrate reductase activity. rBPB:nitrate reductase thus appears to be a new terminal activity of higher plant nitrate reductase and involves specific sites which are not shared by the other activities.

Biochemical and genetic comparison of two nitrate reductase-deficient pea mutants disturbed in the cofactor

Two nitrate reductase (NaR)-deficient mutants of pea (Pisum sativum L.), E1 and A300, both disturbed in the molybdenum cofactor function and isolated, respectively, from cv Rondo and cv Juneau, were tested for allelism and were compared in biochemical and growth characteristics. The F1 plants of the cross E1 X A300 possessed NaR and xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) activities comparable to those of the wild types, indicating that these mutants belong to different complementation groups, representing two different loci. Therefore, mutant E1 represents, besides mutant A300 and the allelic mutants A317 and A334, a third locus governing NaR and is assigned the gene destignation nar 3. In comparison with the wild types, cytochrome c reductase activity was increased in both mutants. The mutants had different cytochrome c reductase distribution patterns, indicating that mutant A300 could be disturbed in the ability to dimerize NaR apoprotein monomers, and mutant E1 in the catalytic function of the molybdenum cofactor. In growth characteristics studied, A300 did not differ from the wild types, whereas fully grown leaves of mutant E1 became necrotic in soil and in liquid media containing nitrate.

Improved in vitro selection of nitrate reductase-deficient mutants of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia

The use of increasing knowledge on regulation of nitrate reductase activity in Nicotiana cell cultures is the basis for the described optimization of in vitro selection for nitrate reductase-deficient mutants by screening for chlorate resistance. Selection was carried out on haploid mesophyll protoplast-derived cell cultures of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia. It is demonstrated that revised selection results in high variant detectability and increased variant confirmability in comparison with the hitherto used selection scheme.

Nitrate reductase is not accumulated in chloroplast-ribosome-deficient mutants of higher plants

The activities of nitrite reductase (EC 1.7.7.1) are 60-70% of wild-type activity in pigment-deficient leaves of the chloroplast-ribosomedeficient mutants 'albostrians' (Hordeum vulgare) and 'iojap' (Zea mays). The activity and apoprotein of nitrate reductase (EC 1.6.6.1.) are lacking in the barley mutant. Only very low activities of nitrate reductase can be extracted from leaves of the maize mutant. The molybdenum cofactor of nitrate reductase and xanthine dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.3.2) is present in maize and barley mutant plants. However, it is not inducible by nitrate in pigment-deficient leaves of 'albostrians'. From these results we conclude: (i) Nitrite reductase (a chloroplast enzyme) is synthesized in the cytoplasm and does not need the presence of nitrate reductase for the induction and maintenance if its activity. (ii) The loss or low activity of nitrate reductase is a consequence of the inability of the mutants to accumulate the apoprotein of this enzyme. (iii) The chloroplasts influence the accumulation (i.e. most probably the synthesis) of the nonchloroplast enzyme, nitrate reductase. The accumulation of nitrate reductase needs a chloroplast factor which is not provided by mutant plastids blocked at an early stage of their development.

Characterization of a chlorate-hypersensitive, high nitrate reductase Arabidopsis thaliana mutant

A population of A. thaliana, produced by self-fertilization of ethylmethane sulfonate treated plants, was exposed to chlorate in the watering solution, and plants showing early susceptibility symptoms were rescued. Among the progeny lines of these plants five were shown to be repeatably chlorate-hypersusceptible. One of these lines (designated C-4) possessed elevated activity of nitrate reductase (NR). The NR activity of mutant C-4 was higher than that of normal plants throughout the life cycle. Nitrite reductase and glutamine synthetase activities of C-4 were normal, as were chlorate uptake rate and tissue nitrate content. The elevated NR activity apparently was responsible for the chlorate hypersusceptibility of C-4. Inheritance studies of NR indicated that the elevated activity of C-4 was probably controlled by a single recessive allele.

In vivo complementation analysis of nitrate reductase-deficient mutants in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

In vivo complementation between different wild and mutant strains defective for nitrate assimilation has been performed by isolating diploid strains from the appropriate crosses. Twenty-two diploids homozygous or heterozygous with respect to nitrate reduction and able to grow on nitrate medium were obtained and their diploid character demonstrated from analyses of mating type, cell volume, nuclear size and progeny of crosses with haploid wild-type. All diploids were assayed for overall- and terminal-nitrate reductase (NR) activity and for the occurrence of the NR-diaphorase subunit. Data on NR activities in heterozygotes carrying mutation(s) in structural gene(s) (nit-1 or nit-1a, nit-1b) agree with the heteromultimeric nature of the enzyme complex previously described (Franco et al. (1984) EMBO J 3: 1403-1407), and indicate that subunits are exchangeable to form hybrid enzymes. In addition, in vitro complementation tests with mutant nit-1 of C. reinhardtii indicate that this mutant has defective NR-diaphorase subunits but intact terminal subunits. Super-repression caused by the mutant allele nit-2 is suppressed by the wild allele in heterozygotes, which suggests a positive control by the nit-2 product on structural gene(s) transcription. Mutant alleles of genes for the biosynthesis of molybdenum-containing cofactor, either nit-4 or nit-5 and nit-6, were recessive in diploids carrying them. The mutant allele of nit-3, from strain 307, was codominant in all heterozygotes suggesting that nit-3 codes for a protein whose activity is limiting for the molybdenum-cofactor biosynthetic pathway.

Repair in vitro of nitrate reductase-deficient tobacco mutants (cnxA) by molybdate and by molybdenum cofactor

Two nitrate reductase-deficient mutant cell lines (CnxA68/2, CnxA101) of Nicotiana tabacum are shown to be repairable under in-vitro conditions by (i) molybdate or (ii) by preparations of active molybdenum cofactor of homologous or heterologous origin, thereby yielding about 20% and 80%, respectively, of the corresponding wild-type NADH-nitrate reductase (EC 1.6.6.1) activity. In-vitro repair of nitrate reductase activity is dependent on sulphydryl-group protecting reagents and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in the extraction medium, the nitrogen source in the growth medium and the age of the cells. The results support the conclusion that the cnxA gene controls the insertion of molybdenum into the molybdenum cofactor. They are consistent with the idea of two interlinked pathways for the metabolic processing of molybdenum acquisition, one involving the synthesis of the structural moiety of the molybdenum cofactor and the other involving processing of the molybdate anion.

Biochemical and genetical characterization of nitrate reductase deficient mutants of Petunia

Four NR(-) lines were selected by their resistance to 100 mM chlorate from X-ray irradiated protoplasts of haploid Petunia hybrida var. Mitchell. The four cell lines were characterized by the presence of xanthine dehydrogenase activity and by complementation tests via protoplast fusion. One mutant (line 1) was classified as defective in the NR apoprotein (tentatively, nia-type) and the other three (lines 2, 3, 4) in the molybdenum cofactor (tentatively, cnx-type). Some NR activity (15 %) could be restored by adding unphysiologically high concentrations of molybdate to the culture medium in two of the cnx-lines (lines 3 and 4). The third cnx-line (line 2) had no NR activity. A complementation analysis via protoplast fusion confirmed that the mutants comprised 3 non-allelic groups. From these results it can be concluded that these NR(-) mutants are recessive and that two of the cnx-mutants (lines 3, 4) are allelic.

Glutamine synthetase in ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase deficient tobacco mutants in cell suspension culture

In two tobacco mutants lacking ribulose, 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase the amount of glutamine synthetase and its activity were determined and compared with the wild type green cells. It was shown that in these two mutants glutamine synthetase protein content was six times lower than in the wild type. This situation was comparable to that found in etiolated cells where ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase was absent. These observations suggest that a common regulatory mechanism might control the dual light dependent biosynthesis of both enzymes. The results have also implications concerning the efficiency of the reassimilation of ammonia by chloroplastic glutamine synthetase during the photorespiratory process.

Isolation of biochemical mutants using haploid mesophyll protosplasts of Hyoscyamus muticus : IV. Biochemical characterisation of nitrate non-utilizing clones

Four nitrate non-utilizing clones of Hyoscyamus muticus, obtained by a total isolation method, possess all the known characteristics of cnx-type nitrate-reductase-deficient variants: 1) strict dependence on a reduced nitrogen source such as a mixture of amino acids; 2) chlorate resistance; 3) normal nitrate uptake; 4) lack of nitrate-reductase and xanthine-dehydrogenase activities, but presence of cytochrome-c-reductase and nitrite-reductase activities; 5) in vitro nitrate-reductase complementation with a molybdenum cofactor source. Two of the clones (MA-2 and I2D12) are molybdate repairable in vivo, whilst the other two clones (VIC2 and XIVE9) are not.

Complementation analysis of nitrate reductase deficient mutants of Nicotiana tabacum by somatic hybridization

Mutant cell lines lacking nitrate reductase activity were analyzed genetically. Protoplasts from one apoprotein defective (nia) and four cofactor defective (cnx) mutants were fused in all possible pairwise combinations with the aid of polyethylene glycol. Complementing hybrids were detected by their ability to grow with nitrate as sole nitrogen source and confirmed by measuring their nitrate reductase activity. Strong complementation was observed in all types of nia+cnx hybrids, whereas the cnx mutants failed to complement each other. From the results it can be concluded that the mutants studied are recessive and that the four cnx mutants are alleles of the same pair of duplicate loci (cnxA1, cnxA2).

Reverse mutants of the nitrate reductase-deficient mutant B 25 of Arabidopsis thaliana

Revertants of B25, a nitrate reductase-deficient mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heinh, were isolated with a high frequency. All 7 independently arisen revertants were mutations in the same suppressor gene su, which is unlinked to the originally mutated gene rgn. The mutant character shows up both in growth on nitrate as the sole nitrogen source and in susceptibility to chlorate. When judged for these properties the mutant alleles are either dominant for both, recessive for both or dominant for growth on nitrate and recessive for the effect of chlorate, when compared to the wildtype allele. Whereas the original mutant B25 exhibits no or very little nitrate reductase activity, the activities of the revenants were in the range of 0.4 to 1.5 of the wildtype activity. Physiological characteristics of nitrate reductase from the revertants are the same as those from the wildtype. Probably rgn is not the structural gene for nitrate reductase. The ability to assemble the nitrate reductase complex from its subunits, which was absent in mutant B25, appears to have been restored in the revertants.

Regulation of the nitrate-reducing system enzymes in wild-type and mutant strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardii

Six mutant strains (301, 102, 203, 104, 305, and 307) affected in their nitrate assimilation capability and their corresponding parental wild-type strains (6145c and 21gr) from Chlamydomonas reinhardii have been studied on different nitrogen sources with respect to NAD(P)H-nitrate reductase and its associated activities (NAD(P)H-cytochrome c reductase and reduced benzyl viologen-nitrate reductase) and to nitrite reductase activity. The mutant strains lack NAD(P)H-nitrate reductase activity in all the nitrogen sources. Mutants 301, 102, 104, and 307 have only NAD(P)H-cytochrome c reductase activity whereas mutant 305 solely has reduced benzyl viologen-nitrate reductase activity. Both activities are repressible by ammonia but, in contrast to the nitrate reductase complex of wild-type strains, require neither nitrate nor nitrite for their induction. Moreover, the enzyme from mutant 305 is always obtained in active form whereas nitrate reductase from wild-types needs to be reactivated previously with ferricyanide to be fully detected. Wild-type strains and mutants 301, 102, 104, and 307, when properly induced, exhibit an NAD(P)H-cytochrome c reductase distinguishable electrophoretically from constitutive diaphorases as a rapidly migrating band. Nitrite reductase from wild-type and mutant strains is also repressible by ammonia and does not require nitrate or nitrite for its synthesis. These facts are explained in terms of a regulation of nitrate reductase synthesis by the enzyme itself.

Isolation and characterization of nitrate reductase-deficient mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana

Chlorate resistant mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana were isolated, of which 10 exhibited a lowered nitrate reductase activity and 51 were chlorate-resistant because of an impaired uptake of chlorate. The 51 mutants of this type are all affected in the same gene. The mutants with a lowered nitrate reductase activity fall into 7 different complementation groups. Three of these mutants grow poorly on media with nitrate as the sole nitrogen source, while the others apparently can reduce sufficient nitrate to bring about growth. In all cases a low nitrate reductase activity coincides with an enhanced nitrite reductase activity. After sucrose gradient centrifugation of wildtype extracts nitrate reductase is found at the 8S position, whereas cytochrome-c reductase is found both at 4 and 8S positions. It is suggested that the functional nitrate reductase is a complex consisting of 4S subunits showing cytochrome-c reductase activity and a Mo-bearing cofactor. All mutants except B25 are capable of assembling the 4S subunits into complexes which for most mutants have a lower S value and exhibit a lower nitrate reductase activity than the wildtype complexes. Since the mutants B25 and B73 exhibit a low xanthine dehydrogenase activity, the Mo-bearing cofactor is probably less available in these mutants than in the wildtype. B73 appears to be the only mutant which is partly repaired by excessive Mo. The possible role of several genes is discussed.

Occurrence of xanthine dehydrogenase in Chlamydomonas reinhardii: A common cofactor shared by xanthine dehydrogenase and nitrate reductase

Wild-type Chlamydomonas reinhardii cells have xanthine dehydrogenase activity when grown with nitrate, nitrite, urea, or amino acid media. Mutant strains 102, 104, and 307 of Chlamydomonas, lacking both xanthine dehydrogenase and nitrate reductase activities, were incapable of restoring the NADPH-nitrate reductase activity of the mutant nit-1 of Neurospora crassa, whereas wild type cells and mutants 203 and 305 had xanthine dehydrogenase and were able to reconstitute the nitrate reductase activity of nit-1 of Neurospora. Therefore, it is concluded that in Chlamydomonas a common cofactor is shared by xanthine dehydrogenase and nitrate reductase. Xanthine dehydrogenase is repressed by ammonia and seems to be inessential for growth of Chlamydomonas.