Changes in the cellular and subcellular localization of glutamine synthetase and glutamate dehydrogenase during flag leaf senescence in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

In order to improve our understanding of the regulation of nitrogen assimilation and recycling in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), we studied the localization of plastidic (GS2) and cytosolic (GS1) glutamine synthetase isoenzymes and of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) during natural senescence of the flag leaf and in the stem. In mature flag leaves, large amounts of GS1 were detected in the connections between the mestome sheath cells and the vascular cells, suggesting an active transfer of nitrogen organic molecules within the vascular system in the mature flag leaf. Parallel to leaf senescence, an increase of a GS1 polypeptide (GS1b) was detected in the mesophyll cytosol of senescing leaves, while the GS protein content represented by another polypetide (GS1a) in the phloem companion cells remained practically constant in both leaves and stems. Both GDH aminating activity and protein content were strongly induced in senescing flag leaves. The induction occurred both in the mitochondria and in the cytosol of phloem companion cells, suggesting that the shift in GDH cellular compartmentation is important during leaf nitrogen remobilization although the metabolic or sensing role of the enzyme remains to be elucidated. Taken together, our results suggest that in wheat, nitrogen assimilation and recycling are compartmentalized between the mesophyll and the vasculature, and are shifted in different cellular compartments within these two tissues during the transition of sink leaves to source leaves.