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Metabolism and Enzymology

Decrease of Nitrate Reductase Activity in Spinach Leaves during a Light-Dark Transition ¹

Institut für Biochemie der Pflanze, Universität Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 3400 Göttingen, Germany

In leaves of spinach plants (Spinacia oleracea L.) performing CO₂ and NO₃^– assimilation, at the time of sudden darkening, which eliminates photosystem I-dependent nitrite reduction, only a minor temporary increase of the leaf nitrite content is observed. Because nitrate reduction does not depend on redox equivalents generated by photosystem I activity, a continuation of nitrate reduction after darkening would result in a large accumulation of nitrite in the leaves within a very short time, which is not observed. Measurements of the extractable nitrate reductase activity from spinach leaves assayed under standard conditions showed that in these leaves the nitrate reductase activity decreased during darkening to 15% of the control value with a half-time of only 2 minutes. Apparently, in these leaves nitrate reductase is very rapidly inactivated at sudden darkness avoiding an accumulation of the toxic nitrite in the cells.

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