First published online November 14, 2002; 10.1104/pp.008599
Plant Physiol, December 2002, Vol. 130, pp. 1788-1796
Characterization of Arabidopsis AtAMT2, a High-Affinity Ammonium
Transporter of the Plasma Membrane1
Christian
Sohlenkamp,
Craig
C.
Wood,
Gerhard W.
Roeb, and
Michael K.
Udvardi*
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am
Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Golm, Germany (C.S., C.C.W., M.K.U.); Centro
de Investigación Sobre Fijación de Nitrógeno,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México,
Apartado Postal 565-A, Cuernavaca, Morelos CP62210,
Mexico (C.S.); and Institute for Phytosphere Research,
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich,
Germany (G.W.R.)
AtAMT2 is an ammonium transporter that is only distantly
related to the five members of the AtAMT1 family of high-affinity ammonium transporters in Arabidopsis. The short-lived radioactive ion
13NH4+ was used to show that
AtAMT2, expressed in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae),
is a high-affinity transporter with a Km for
ammonium of about 20 µM. Changes in external pH between
5.0 and 7.5 had little effect on the Km for
ammonium, indicating that NH4+, not
NH3, is the substrate for AtAMT2. The
AtAMT2 gene was expressed in all organs of
Arabidopsis and was subject to nitrogen (N) regulation, at least in
roots where expression was partially repressed by high concentrations
of ammonium nitrate and derepressed in the absence of external N. Although expression of AtAMT2 in shoots responded little
to changes in root N status, transcript levels in leaves declined under
high CO2 conditions. Transient expression of an
AtAMT2-green fluorescent protein fusion protein in Arabidopsis leaf
epidermal cells indicated a plasma membrane location for the AtAMT2
protein. Thus, AtAMT2 is likely to play a significant role in moving
ammonium between the apoplast and symplast of cells throughout the
plant. However, a dramatic reduction in the level of
AtAMT2 transcript brought about by dsRNA interference
with gene expression had no obvious effect on plant growth or
development, under the conditions tested.
1
This work was supported by the Max Planck
Society for the Advancement of Science and by the Alexander von
Humboldt Foundation.
*
Corresponding author; e-mail Udvardi{at}mpimp-golm.mpg.de; fax
49-331-567-8250.
© 2002 American Society of Plant Biologists
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