Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:1.7.1.2 (nitrate reductase)
 3,861 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The molybdenum requirement for growth and conidial formation by Aspergillus flavus, A. terreus, and A. sulphureus was found to be 0.2 ppb, which was one-fifth that of an A. niger isolate. Molybdenum deficiency depressed growth, conidial formation, dry weight, soluble protein, and the specific activities of nitrate reductase, succinic dehydrogenase, and aconitase in all the isolates of Aspergillus studied, but the specific activities of catalase and peroxidase were depressed only in isolates of A. niger, A. terreus, and A. flavus. Also, molybdenum deficiency stimulated the specific activities of acid phosphatase and ribonuclease in the A. flavus isolate, although the specific activities of these enzymes decreased in other isolates. Eighteen hours after the addition of molybdenum (5 ppb) to molybdenum-deficient (0.02 ppb) cultures of A. niger, the specific activities of catalase, peroxidase and succinic dehydrogenase were restored in the absence of cycloheximide, while the specific activity of nitrate reductase was recovered even in the presence of the inhibitor. There was no effect on the specific activities of aconitase and acid phosphatase following the addition of molybdenum to molybdenum-deficient cultures of A. niger.
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PMID:Molybdenum nutrition of isolates of four Aspergillus species. 309 Dec 28

We have isolated the Penicillium chrysogenum nre gene which is homologous to the major nitrogen regulatory genes areA from Aspergillus nidulans and nit-2 from Neurospora crassa. Overall, nre shows 60% identity to areA and 30% identity to nit-2 at the amino-acid level. The gene encodes a protein of 835 amino-acid residues and contains a single Cys2/Cys2-type zinc finger with an adjacent basic region and a putative acidic activation region. In the DNA-binding domain, 98% of the amino-acid residues are identical in nre, areA and nit-2. The nre gene has been shown to be functional in N. crassa by heterologous complementation of a nit-2 mutant. Growth tests indicated that transformants could utilize nitrate, amino-acids, purines and amides as sole nitrogen sources. Nitrate reductase activity assays performed with transformants demonstrated that nitrogen control was completely normal. Complementation of N. crassa nit-2 mutants with 5'-deletion clones of nre suggests the possible presence of an internal promoter within the coding region. Northern analysis and ribonuclease protection assays of total cellular RNA indicated that nre encodes a 3.2-kb transcript which is reduced in content under conditions of nitrogen repression.
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PMID:Molecular cloning and analysis of nre, the major nitrogen regulatory gene of Penicillium chrysogenum. 778 18

The nor-1 gene was cloned previously by complementation of a mutation (nor-1) in Aspergillus parasiticus SU-1 which blocked aflatoxin B1 biosynthesis, resulting in the accumulation of norsolorinic acid (NA). In this study, the nucleotide sequences of the cDNA and genomic DNA clones encompassing the coding region of the nor-1 gene were determined. The transcription initiation and polyadenylation sites of nor-1 were located by primer extension and RNase protection analyses and by comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the nor-1 genomic and cDNA clones. A plasmid, pNA51-82, was created for one-step disruption of the nor-1 gene by inserting a functional copy of the nitrate reductase (niaD) gene from A. parasiticus into the coding region of the nor-1 gene. Transformation of A. parasiticus NR-3 (niaD Afl+) with pNA51-82 resulted in niaD+ transformants that accumulated NA and produced reduced levels of aflatoxin as determined by thin-layer chromatography and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analyses of extracts from mycelia and the growth medium. Southern analysis of genomic DNA isolated from the NA-accumulating transformants indicated that the wild-type nor-1 gene in the chromosome had been replaced by the nonfunctional allele carried on pNA51-82. This recombinational inactivation event provides direct evidence that the nor-1 gene is functionally involved in aflatoxin biosynthesis. Comparison of the predicted nor-1 amino acid sequence with sequences in the GenBank and EMBL databases suggested that the protein is a member of the family of short-chain alcohol dehydrogenases, consistent with its proposed function as a keto reductase.
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PMID:Structural and functional analysis of the nor-1 gene involved in the biosynthesis of aflatoxins by Aspergillus parasiticus. 799 94

Unicellular green algae, like Chlorella, offer a potentially useful system for the expression of heterologous proteins. However, the development of Chlorella as a bioreactor has been delayed owing to the lack of a stable transformation technique. Here we report on the use of micro-projectile bombardment to introduce the nitrate reductase (NR) gene from Chlorella vulgaris into NR-deficient Chlorella sorokiniana mutants, resulting in stable transformants. The stable transformants were able to grow on nitrate medium after repeated passages between selective and nonselective medium and exhibited inducible nitrate reductase activity comparable to that of wild-type cells. Southern analysis suggests homologous recombination occurs with insertion of the wild type gene into the mutated gene and that the genes of the two Chlorellaspecies used are very similar. Specific RNase protection assays, selecting for a poorly conserved region of the gene, identified the presence of the C. vulgaris NR transcript only in the transformed C. sorkiniana mutant and not in the mutant.
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PMID:Stable Transformation of Chlorella: Rescue of Nitrate Reductase-Deficient Mutants with the Nitrate Reductase Gene 935 20

The maintenance of chlorophyll in darkened first leaves of oats was used as a bioassay for cytokinins in pea (Pisum sativum) roots. No cytokinin was found (in contrast with earlier reports on sunflower roots); however, the extracts contained two or more substances antagonistic to cytokinin, i. e., promoting the yellowing in this test. Because the most active of these appeared to be an amino acid, individual amino acids were examined for their ability to modify the greening reaction. As a result, l-serine was found to have these properties. It promotes yellowing whether the greening agent is kinetin, indoleacetic acid, or adenine; it is, therefore, not functioning as a specific cytokinin antagonist. Its action is due to promoting proteolysis. Its d-isomer is inactive. l-Arginine, which alone does not cause chlorophyll retention and only weakly inhibits proteolysis, strongly antagonizes the action of l-serine, and thus prevents the yellowing; this effect is specific, and the only other effective serine antagonist found, although much weaker, is l-threonine. The action of arginine is not due to its preventing serine uptake, but rather the action parallels the serine-arginine antagonism previously described for nitrate reductase induction. A novel interpretation of the effect of amino acids on this process is therefore put forward. In studies of the RNase in darkened oat leaves, serine was found to have no effect; however, kinetin strongly inhibits the normal rise in the level of RNase which occurs in the isolated leaf. Kinetin also maintains the integrity of the cell membranes. A variety of evidence leads to the conclusion that the primary action of kinetin on the leaf is to inhibit proteolysis, rather than to promote protein synthesis.
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PMID:Antagonisms between Kinetin and Amino Acids: Experiments on the Mode of Action of Cytokinins. 1665 37

Desiccation of 8- to 13-day-old seedlings, achieved by withholding nutrient solution from the vermiculite root medium, caused a reduction in nitrate reductase activity of the leaf tissue. Activity declined when leaf water potentials decreased below -2 bars and was 25% of the control at a leaf water potential of -13 bars. Experiments were conducted to determine whether the decrease in nitrate reductase activity was due to reduced levels of nitrate in the tissue, direct inactivation of the enzyme by low leaf water potentials, or to changes in rates of synthesis or decay of the enzyme.Although tissue nitrate content decreased with the onset of desiccation, it did not continue to decline with tissue desiccation and loss of enzyme activity. Nitrate reductase activity recovered when the plants were rewatered with nitrate-free medium, suggesting that the nitrate in the plant was adequate for high nitrate reductase activity. The rate of decay of nitrate reductase activity from desiccated tissue was essentially identical to that of the control, in vivo or in vitro, regardless of the rapidity of desiccation of the tissue. Direct inactivation of the enzyme by the low water potentials was not detected. Polyribosomal content of the tissue declined with the decrease in water potential, prior to the decline in nitrate reductase activity. Changes in ribosomal profiles occurred during desiccation, regardless of whether the tissue had been excised or not and whether desiccation was rapid or slow. Reduction in polyribosomal content did not appear to be associated with changes in ribonuclease activity. Nitrate reductase activity and the polyribosomal content of the tissue recovered upon rewatering, following the recovery in water potential. The increase in polyribosomal content preceded the increase in nitrate reductase activity. Recovery of enzyme activity was prevented by cycloheximide.Based on these results, it appears that nitrate reductase activity was affected primarily by a decrease in the rate of enzyme synthesis at low leaf water potentials.
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PMID:Nitrate Reductase Activity and Polyribosomal Content of Corn (Zea mays L.) Having Low Leaf Water Potentials. 1665 19