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Keywords:

  • Tuber borchii;
  • glutamate dehydrogenase;
  • purification;
  • gene cloning;
  • expression analysis

Summary

• NADP-glutamate dehydrogenase (NADP-GDH) from Tuber borchii was purified and the corresponding gene was cloned in order to elucidate the physiological role of the enzyme in this ectomycorrhizal fungus.

• NADP-GDH was purified using an anion-exchange column followed by affinity chromatography. The complete gene was cloned from a 30-d-old-mycelium cDNA library and characterized.

• T. borchii NADP-GDH appears to be physically and kinetically similar to those from other fungi and the deduced amino acid sequence of the gdh gene showed a significant similarity to other fungal NADP-dependent GDHs. Biochemical and Northern blotting analyses carried out with mycelia grown on different nitrogen sources clearly showed that the regulation of T. borchii NADP-GDH in response to different nitrogen sources was markedly different from the responses of the NADP-GDHs of other ascomycetes. Northern blotting analyses highlighted that the gdh gene was also expressed in the symbiotic phase.

• The biochemical and molecular data suggest that the fungal NADP-GDH contributes to the primary nitrogen metabolism in the ectomycorrhizal tissues.