slightly accelerated by 2-oxoglutarate. (iv) Plants were placed in the dark for 60 h to reduce NIA activity to the limit of detection, and leaf discs were then incubated in the dark on sucrose to achieve a photosynthesis-independent increase of NIA activity. This was strongly inhibited by malate. (v) It is concluded that malate inhibits NIA expression, affecting both the NIA transcript level and NIA activity. Although the results are consistent with a role for 2-oxoglutarate in the regulation of NIA expression, the impact is less marked and no endogenous changes of 2-oxoglutarate were found that are likely to have a significant effect on NIA expression.