Plant Physiol, December 1999, Vol. 121, pp. 1281-1290

Proline Metabolism in the Wild-Type and in a Salt-Tolerant Mutant of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia Studied by ¹³C-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging¹

Laboratory of Plant Genetics, Institute of Molecular Biology, Free University of Brussels, Paardenstraat 65, B-1640 Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium (N.H.R., Y.L., M.B., M.J.); and High Resolution NMR Centre Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussel, Belgium (R.W., I.V., M.B.)

To obtain insight into the link between proline (Pro) accumulation and the increase in osmotolerance in higher plants, we investigated the biochemical basis for the NaCl tolerance of a Nicotiana plumbaginifolia mutant (RNa) that accumulates Pro. Pro biosynthesis and catabolism were investigated in both wild-type and mutant lines. ¹³C-Nuclear magnetic resonance with [5-¹³C]glutamate (Glu) as the Pro precursor was used to provide insight into the mechanism of Pro accumulation via the Glu pathway. After 24 h under 200 mM NaCl stress in the presence of [5-¹³C]Glu, a significant enrichment in [5-¹³C]Pro was observed compared with non-stress conditions in both the wild type (P2) and the mutant (RNa). Moreover, under the same conditions, [5-¹³C]Pro was clearly synthesized in higher amounts in RNa than in P2. On the other hand, measurements of enzyme activities indicate that neither the biosynthesis via the ornithine pathway, nor the catabolism via the Pro oxidation pathway were affected in the RNa mutant. Finally, the regulatory effect exerted by Pro on its biosynthesis was evaluated. In P2 plantlets, exogenous Pro markedly reduced the conversion of [5-¹³C]Glu into [5-¹³C]Pro, whereas Pro feedback inhibition was not detected in the RNa plantlets. It is proposed that the origin of tolerance in the RNa mutant is due to a mutation leading to a substantial reduction of the feedback inhibition normally exerted in a wild-type (P2) plant by Pro at the level of the -pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase enzyme.