Constitutive activation of nitrate reductase in tobacco alters flowering time and plant biomass

Abstract Pyridine alkaloids produced in tobacco can react with nitrosating agents such as nitrite to form tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA), which are among the most notable toxicants present in tobacco smoke. The market type known as burley tobacco is particularly susceptible to TSNA formation b...

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Autores principales: Jianli Lu, Niharika N. Chandrakanth, Ramsey S. Lewis, Karen Andres, Lucien Bovet, Simon Goepfert, Ralph E. Dewey
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Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2021
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:84f708b815a3414c82d65b81abadec3c2021-12-02T14:03:57ZConstitutive activation of nitrate reductase in tobacco alters flowering time and plant biomass10.1038/s41598-021-83797-72045-2322https://doaj.org/article/84f708b815a3414c82d65b81abadec3c2021-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83797-7https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Pyridine alkaloids produced in tobacco can react with nitrosating agents such as nitrite to form tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA), which are among the most notable toxicants present in tobacco smoke. The market type known as burley tobacco is particularly susceptible to TSNA formation because its corresponding cultivars exhibit a nitrogen-use-deficiency phenotype which results in high accumulation of nitrate, which, in turn, is converted to nitrite by leaf surface microbes. We have previously shown that expression of a constitutively activated nitrate reductase (NR) enzyme dramatically decreases leaf nitrate levels in burley tobacco, resulting in substantial TSNA reductions without altering the alkaloid profile. Here, we show that plants expressing a constitutively active NR construct, designated 35S:S523D-NR, display an early-flowering phenotype that is also associated with a substantial reduction in plant biomass. We hypothesized that crossing 35S:S523D-NR tobaccos with burley cultivars that flower later than normal would help mitigate the undesirable early-flowering/reduced-biomass traits while maintaining the desirable low-nitrate/TSNA phenotype. To test this, 35S:S523D-NR plants were crossed with two late-flowering cultivars, NC 775 and NC 645WZ. In both cases, the plant biomass at harvest was restored to levels similar to those in the original cultivar used for transformation while the low-nitrate/TSNA trait was maintained. Interestingly, the mechanism by which yield was restored differed markedly between the two crosses. Biomass restoration in F1 hybrids using NC 645WZ as a parent was associated with delayed flowering, as originally hypothesized. Unexpectedly, however, crosses with NC 775 displayed enhanced biomass despite maintaining the early-flowering trait of the 35S:S523D-NR parent.Jianli LuNiharika N. ChandrakanthRamsey S. LewisKaren AndresLucien BovetSimon GoepfertRalph E. DeweyNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Jianli Lu
Niharika N. Chandrakanth
Ramsey S. Lewis
Karen Andres
Lucien Bovet
Simon Goepfert
Ralph E. Dewey
Constitutive activation of nitrate reductase in tobacco alters flowering time and plant biomass
description Abstract Pyridine alkaloids produced in tobacco can react with nitrosating agents such as nitrite to form tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA), which are among the most notable toxicants present in tobacco smoke. The market type known as burley tobacco is particularly susceptible to TSNA formation because its corresponding cultivars exhibit a nitrogen-use-deficiency phenotype which results in high accumulation of nitrate, which, in turn, is converted to nitrite by leaf surface microbes. We have previously shown that expression of a constitutively activated nitrate reductase (NR) enzyme dramatically decreases leaf nitrate levels in burley tobacco, resulting in substantial TSNA reductions without altering the alkaloid profile. Here, we show that plants expressing a constitutively active NR construct, designated 35S:S523D-NR, display an early-flowering phenotype that is also associated with a substantial reduction in plant biomass. We hypothesized that crossing 35S:S523D-NR tobaccos with burley cultivars that flower later than normal would help mitigate the undesirable early-flowering/reduced-biomass traits while maintaining the desirable low-nitrate/TSNA phenotype. To test this, 35S:S523D-NR plants were crossed with two late-flowering cultivars, NC 775 and NC 645WZ. In both cases, the plant biomass at harvest was restored to levels similar to those in the original cultivar used for transformation while the low-nitrate/TSNA trait was maintained. Interestingly, the mechanism by which yield was restored differed markedly between the two crosses. Biomass restoration in F1 hybrids using NC 645WZ as a parent was associated with delayed flowering, as originally hypothesized. Unexpectedly, however, crosses with NC 775 displayed enhanced biomass despite maintaining the early-flowering trait of the 35S:S523D-NR parent.
format article
author Jianli Lu
Niharika N. Chandrakanth
Ramsey S. Lewis
Karen Andres
Lucien Bovet
Simon Goepfert
Ralph E. Dewey
author_facet Jianli Lu
Niharika N. Chandrakanth
Ramsey S. Lewis
Karen Andres
Lucien Bovet
Simon Goepfert
Ralph E. Dewey
author_sort Jianli Lu
title Constitutive activation of nitrate reductase in tobacco alters flowering time and plant biomass
title_short Constitutive activation of nitrate reductase in tobacco alters flowering time and plant biomass
title_full Constitutive activation of nitrate reductase in tobacco alters flowering time and plant biomass
title_fullStr Constitutive activation of nitrate reductase in tobacco alters flowering time and plant biomass
title_full_unstemmed Constitutive activation of nitrate reductase in tobacco alters flowering time and plant biomass
title_sort constitutive activation of nitrate reductase in tobacco alters flowering time and plant biomass
publisher Nature Portfolio
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/84f708b815a3414c82d65b81abadec3c
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AT karenandres constitutiveactivationofnitratereductaseintobaccoaltersfloweringtimeandplantbiomass
AT lucienbovet constitutiveactivationofnitratereductaseintobaccoaltersfloweringtimeandplantbiomass
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