Co-suppressed glutamine synthetase2 gene modifies nitrogen metabolism and plant growth in rice

A full-length cDNA that encodes the rice chloroplastic glutamine synthetase 2 gene was isolated from it Minghui 63-normalized cDNA library; and GS2 rice transformants were obtained by an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation method. Transcripts of the GS2 gene were shown to accumulate at higher levels in the primary transgenic plants in the T-0 generation; whereas plants in the T-1 generation exhibited a co-suppressed chlorosis phenotype (yellow leaves) accompanied by decreased plant height, few tillers and decreased dry weight. The plants with yellow leaves also displayed a significant decline in GS2 messenger RNA (mRNA) transcriptional level and chlorophyll content; a decrease in total GS activities of similar to 50% was also found. Although there was no decrease in the concentration of total free amino acids, a change in the concentration of individual amino acids was observed. Our result also indicates a decreased metabolic level (soluble protein content and ammonium concentration) in GS2 co-suppressed plants. A correlation between chlorophyll content and GS2 mRNA expression level was also observed. The GS2 co-suppressed plants showed better performance when complemented with exogenous glutamine, indicating that the lack of an organic nitrogen pool inside the cell is the possible reason for the chlorosis phenotype of the transformants.