Regulation of expression of carbon-assimilating enzymes by nitrogen in maize leaf.

We have utilized the cellular differentiation gradient of the developed, youngest leaf to examine the regulation by nitrogen of levels of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPCase), pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK), and ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase in maize (Zea mays L.). The protein whose level regulated most preferentially by N availability was PEPCase, followed by PPDK, and the changes in level occurred most conspicuously at the photosynthetically maturing cells. Pulse and pulse-chase experiments to analyze photosynthetic fixation of [(14)C]CO(2) indicate that maize leaf primarily exploited a C(4)-mode of photosynthetic fixation of carbon dioxide even under a selective reduction in levels of these proteins. The effects of N on the synthesis of these proteins and the accumulation of corresponding mRNAs during recovery from a deficiency were examined by pulse and pulse-chase labeling with [(35)S]Met and by hybridization, respectively. The rate of turnover of PPDK was substantially higher than that of the other proteins. Results also showed that the reduced accumulation of PEPCase, as well as PPDK, under N deficiency could largely be accounted for a reduced level of synthesis of protein with a concomitant reduction in level of their mRNAs. This indicates that the N-dependent selective accumulation of these enzymes is primarily a consequence of level of its mRNAs.