Quantification of gene expression involved in carbon and nitrogen metabolism and compositional analysis of cell wall carbohydrates and lignin of N. tabacum that overexpress pea Lhcb1*2 and N. plumbaginifolia nia2 genes

• Grant number: 09/02770-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2009
• End date: September 30, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Pant Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Alberto Labate
• Grantee: Felipe Garbelini Marques
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Lately, many methodologies have been used to study plant physiology since the elucidation of its relations is extremely important to improve many factors, as productivity, for example. Photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation are two of the most important plant processes, and in this context, it is intended to be studied. Labate et al, 2004, transformed Nicotiana tabacum plants with the Lhcb1*2 gene, that express proteins of the light-harvesting complex, observing several modifications in leaf anatomy, morphology, biochemestry and physiology of these plants. With these results, another exogenous gene has been inserted in these plants, nia2, which is responsible for the production of nitrate reductase, an important enzyme of the nitrogen pathway. As the first gene is related to photosynthesis and the second one related to nitrogen uptake, it is intended to analyse the relations between both metabolisms using Real-time PCR technique, monitoring the differential expression of many genes from both pathways in leaf material. Another approach is the analysis of carbohydrates and lignin from the primary and secondary cell wall of the transgenics plants. The quantification of these elements by spectrophotometry and liquid chromatography will allow to conclude about the interactions between photosynthesis and nitrogen pathways. (AU)