title: Developmental effects on ureide levels are mediated by tissue-specific regulation of allantoinase in Phaseolus vulgaris L.
abstract: The ureides allantoin and allantoate are key molecules in the transport and storage of nitrogen in ureide legumes. In shoots and leaves from Phaseolus vulgaris plants using symbiotically fixed nitrogen as the sole nitrogen source, ureide levels were roughly equivalent to those of nitrate-supported plants during the whole vegetative stage, but they exhibited a sudden increase at the onset of flowering. This rise in the level of ureides, mainly in the form of allantoate, was accompanied by increases in allantoinase gene expression and enzyme activity, consistent with developmental regulation of ureide levels mainly through the tissue-specific induction of allantoate synthesis catalysed by allantoinase. Moreover, surprisingly high levels of ureides were also found in non-nodulated plants fertilized with nitrate, at both early and late developmental stages. The results suggest that remobilized N from lower leaves is probably involved in the sharp rise in ureides in shoots and leaves during early pod filling in N(2)-fixing plants and in the significant amounts of ureides observed in non-nodulated plants.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Botánica, Ecología y Fisiología Vegetal, Grupo de Fisiología Molecular y Biotecnología de Plantas, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario, CEIA3. Campus de Rabanales, Edif. Severo Ochoa, 1 planta, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071, Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Díaz-Leal
authors.forename: Gregorio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gálvez-Valdivieso
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pineda
authors.forename: Josefa M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Alamillo
mesh_terms: D000481:Allantoin / Q000378:metabolism*; D000581:Amidohydrolases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D027805:Phaseolus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D000481:Allantoin; D000581:Amidohydrolases; C019659:allantoinase; D009584:Nitrogen