In spinach (Spinacea oleracea L.) leaf extracts, three protein kinases (PKI, PKII and PKIII) were identified each of which phosphorylated spinach nitrate reductase on serine-543, and inactivated the enzyme in the presence of nitrate reductase inhibitor, 14-3-3. PKIII was also very active in phosphorylating and inactivating Arabidopsis (Landsberg erecta) 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase 1 (HMGR1). PKI and PKII phosphorylated HMGR1 more slowly than PKIII, compared with their relative rates of phosphorylation of nitrate reductase. HMGR1 identical with those that are seen after phosphorylation of serine-577 by the sucrose non-fermenting (SNF1)-like PK, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Co A reductase kinase A (HRK-A), from cauliflower [Dale, Arró, Becerra, Morrice, Boronat, Hardie and Ferrer (1995) Eur. J. Biochem. 233, 506-513]. PKI was Ca2+-dependent when prepared in the absence of protein phosphatase (PP) inhibitors, and largely Ca2+-dependent when prepared in the presence of PP inhibitors (NaF and EGTA). The Ca2+-independent portion of PKI was inactivated by either PP2A or PP2C, while the Ca2+-dependent portion of PKI became increasingly activated during storage, which we presume was mimicking the effect of an unidentified PP. These findings indicate that PK1 is regulated by two functionally distinct phosphorylations. PKI had a molecular mass of 45 kDa on gel filtration and was active towards substrate peptides that terminated at the +2 residue from the phosphorylation site, whereas PKIII was inactive towards these peptides. PKII was Ca2+-stimulated under all conditions tested. PKIII was Ca2+-indepdented, inactivated by PP2A or PP2C, had a requirement for a hydrophobic residue in the +4 position of peptide substrates, had a molecular mass by gel filtration of approximately 140 kDa, and an antibody against the rye SNF1-related PK (RKIN1) recognized a 58 kDa subunit in fractions containing PKIII. These properties of PKIII are identical with those reported previously for the SNF1-like enzyme, HRK-A. Our results indicate a considerable complexity of kinase cascades mediating the regulation of assimilatory and biosynthetic pathways in response to environmental stimuli in plants.

Recently in yeast and animal cells, one particular class of ubiquitin ligase (E3), called the SCF, was demonstrated to regulate diverse processes including cell cycle and development. In plants SCF-dependent proteolysis is also involved in different developmental and hormonal regulations. To further investigate the function of SCF, we characterized at the molecular level the Arabidopsis RING-H2 finger protein AtRbx1. We demonstrated that the plant gene is able to functionally complement a yeast knockout mutant strain and showed that AtRbx1 protein interacts physically with at least two members of the Arabidopsis cullin family (AtCul1 and AtCul4). AtRbx1 also associates with AtCul1 and the Arabidopsis SKP1-related proteins in planta, indicating that it is part of plant SCF complexes. AtRbx1 mRNAs accumulate in various tissues of the plant, but at higher levels in tissues containing actively dividing cells. Finally to study the function of the gene in planta, we either overexpressed AtRbx1 or reduced its expression by a dsRNA strategy. Down-regulation of AtRbx1 impaired seedling growth and development, indicating that the gene is essential in plants. Furthermore, the AtRbx1-silenced plants showed a reduced level of AtCul1 protein, but accumulated higher level of cyclin D3.

We found that the deletion of a conserved stretch of acidic residues led to an active NR protein that was more thermosensitive than the wild-type enzyme, but it was relatively insensitive to the inactivation by phosphorylation in the dark. Therefore, the removal of this acidic stretch seems to have the same effects on NR activation state as the deletion of the N-terminal domain. A hypothetical explanation for these observations is that a specific factor that impedes inactivation remains bound to the truncated enzyme. A synthetic peptide derived from this acidic protein motif was also found to be a good substrate for casein kinase II.Most higher plants obtain the nitrogen metabolites needed for growth and development by taking up and assimilating nitrate. After active transport into the cell, nitrate is reduced to nitrite by NR (EC 1.6.6.1-2), a cytosolic enzyme. Subsequently, nitrite is reduced to ammonium by nitrite reductase, which is localized in the chloroplast.The expression of the NR gene is highly regulated at the transcriptional level by many endogenous and environmental factors, including hormones, light, nitrogen source, and carbohydrates (for review, see Hoff et al., 1994;Crawford, 1995). These transcriptional regulations probably determine the long-term fluctuations in the NR protein level. On the other hand, a reversible posttranslational regulation of the NR protein involving protein phosphorylation allows short-term modulation of the enzyme activity in response to light-dark transitions, variations in photosynthetic activity, CO 2 level, intracellular pH, or oxygen availability (Kaiser and Fö rster, 1989;