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Adaptations of Nitrogen Metabolism to Oxygen Deprivation in Plants

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Low-Oxygen Stress in Plants

Part of the book series: Plant Cell Monographs ((CELLMONO,volume 21))

Abstract

Acclimation of plants to O2 deprivation depends on their ability to mitigate detrimental effects related to energy crisis and cytosolic acidosis. Accordingly, lactic and ethanol fermentative pathways are activated under low oxygen stress in order to regenerate NAD+ to maintain a high glycolysis rate that becomes the major route for ATP production. Paradoxically lactic acid worsens cytosolic acidosis and ethanol fermentation drains carbon for the production of a metabolically useless dead-end product. Nitrogen metabolism is profoundly affected by O2 deprivation. Interestingly hypoxic N metabolism not only contributes to tolerate O2 deprivation but also mitigates negative effects of lactic and ethanol fermentation. The most salient event is the concerted modulation of alanine and glutamate pathways that allow for the substitution of ATP-dependent enzymes glutamine synthetase (GS) and asparagine synthetase (AS) by alanine aminotransferase (AlaAT) and glutamate oxoglutarate aminotransferase (NADH-GOGAT) as essential enzymes of N assimilation. This adaptation saves ATP, regenerates NAD+, and saves carbon in the form of alanine, a C/N storage form readily remobilized upon recovery. As for acidosis amelioration, nitrogen metabolism participates in the cellular pH-stat through GABA and putrescine pathways. Alanine accumulation contributes indirectly to pH homeostasis by using pyruvate competitively with lactate dehydrogenase.

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Acknowledgments

To Claudie Ricoult in memoriam.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et Semences (IRHS), UMR 1345, INRA/Agrocampus Ouest/Université d’Angers, 2 Bd Lavoisier, 49045, Angers cedex, France

    Anis M. Limami

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  1. Anis M. Limami
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Correspondence to Anis M. Limami .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Joost T. van Dongen

  2. Scuola Superiore Sant´Anna, Pisa, Italy

    Francesco Licausi

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Limami, A.M. (2014). Adaptations of Nitrogen Metabolism to Oxygen Deprivation in Plants. In: van Dongen, J., Licausi, F. (eds) Low-Oxygen Stress in Plants. Plant Cell Monographs, vol 21. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-1254-0_11

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