Final Report: Nitrogen Control of Chloroplast Differentiation and Metabolism,

摘要

Toward resolution of the physiological, biochemical and molecular bases for how211u001ethe photosynthetic capacity of plants is regulated in response to nitrogen 211u001edeprivation, we employ the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a 211u001emodel. With chemostat cultures, steady-state levels of deficiency of this 211u001enutrient, chlorosis and slow growth rates. They respond to nitrogen provision by 211u001erapid greening, providing a superior system for dissection of molecular and 211u001emetabolic changes that rapidly ensue during the nutrient response. As the 211u001ephotosynthetic apparatus is most conspicuously affected by N-deprivation, the 211u001eresearch necessarily confronts issues of the structure and function of 211u001ephotosynthetic complexes and how they are modulated. Complementary studies with 211u001eChlamydomonas mutants facilitate defining regulatory and physiological 211u001einteractions of the chloroplast, nuclear and mitochondrial compartments.