Molecular cloning and characterisation of the two homologous genes coding for nitrate reductase in tobacco.

The two structural genes encoding tobacco nitrate reductases (NR) were isolated from tobacco genomic libraries constructed in lambda EMBL phages. Two independent genomic clones of 12.6 and 13.5 kbp, respectively, cross-hybridizing with a partial tobacco NR cDNA probe, were further characterized. Southern blot experiments were performed with the NR cDNA probe on genomic DNA derived from Nicotiana tabacum and from the ancestors of tobacco, N. sylvestris and N. tomentosiformis. They showed that the larger clone, referred to as nia-1, was related to the N. tomentosiformis parent, and the smaller one, referred to as nia-2, to the N. sylvestris parent. Both homeologous genes were found to be expressed in tobacco. The sequence of the gene nia-2, from which the cDNA previously cloned is derived, was determined. It encodes a 904 amino acid protein. Three intervening sequences were found interspersed with the coding sequence of the enzyme. The precise location of the transcription initiation site on the structural gene was mapped by primer extension experiments. A TATA consensus sequence was detected 32 bp upstream from the transcription initiation site. The leader sequence of the transcript is 138 nucleotides long and a stable secondary structure involving the translation initiation site has been proposed. The amino acid sequence of tobacco NR deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the gene shows that heme and FAD binding domains occupy the entire C-terminal moiety of the polypeptide. The remaining N-terminal part of the protein should thus carry the catalytic site of nitrate reduction by the molybdenum cofactor.