JXB Advance Access originally published online on August 30, 2005
Journal of Experimental Botany 2005 56(420):2601-2609; doi:10.1093/jxb/eri252
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RESEARCH PAPER |
In higher plants, only root mitochondria, but not leaf mitochondria reduce nitrite to NO, in vitro and in situ

1Lehrstuhl Botanik I, Julius-von-Sachs-Institut für Biowissenschaften, Universität Würzburg, Julius-von-Sachs-Platz 2, D-97082 Würzburg, Germany
2Plant Science Department, University of Manitoba, Manitoba, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +49 931 888 6158. E-mail: kaiser{at}botanik.uni-wuerzburg.de
At oxygen concentrations of
1%, even completely nitrate reductase (NR)-free root tissues reduced added nitrite to NO, indicating that, in roots, NR was not the only source for nitrite-dependent NO formation. By contrast, NR-free leaf slices were not able to reduce nitrite to NO. Root NO formation was blocked by inhibitors of mitochondrial electron transport (Myxothiazol and SHAM), whereas NO formation by NR-containing leaf slices was insensitive to the inhibitors. Consistent with that, mitochondria purified from roots, but not those from leaves, reduced nitrite to NO at the expense of NADH. The inhibitor studies suggest that, in root mitochondria, both terminal oxidases participate in NO formation, and they also suggest that even in NR-containing roots, a large part of the reduction of nitrite to NO was catalysed by mitochondria, and less by NR. The differential capacity of root and leaf mitochondria to reduce nitrite to NO appears to be common among higher plants, since it has been observed with Arabidopsis, barley, pea, and tobacco. A specific role for nitrite to NO reduction in roots under anoxia is discussed.
Key words: Alternative oxidase, anoxia, cytochrome c oxidase, nitric oxide, NO, root mitochondria
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