Arabidopsis plastidial folylpolyglutamate synthetase is required for nitrogen metabolism under nitrate-limited condition in darkness.

Folates play an important role in plant metabolism. Here we report a T-DNA insertion mutant (atdfb-3) of the plastidial folylpolyglutamate synthetase gene (AtDFB) was defective in folate metabolism and nitrogen metabolism under nitrate-limited conditions in darkness. Exogenous applied 5-formyl-tetrahydrofolate (5-F-THF) completely restored nitrogen content, soluble protein, total amino acids, individual amino acids including Glu, Gln, Asp, Asn, Pro, Arg and Met, nitrate, and endogenous 5-F-THF in atdfb-3 to the wild-type level.

Genome-wide identification and transcriptional analysis of folate metabolism-related genes in maize kernels.

Background: Maize is a major staple food crop globally and contains various concentrations of vitamins. Folates are essential water-soluble B-vitamins that play an important role as one-carbon (C1) donors and acceptors in organisms. To gain an understanding of folate metabolism in maize, we performed an intensive in silico analysis to screen for genes involved in folate metabolism using publicly available databases, followed by examination of the transcript expression patterns and profiling of the folate derivatives in the kernels of two maize inbred lines.

Arabidopsis plastidial folylpolyglutamate synthetase is required for seed reserve accumulation and seedling establishment in darkness.

Interactions among metabolic pathways are important in plant biology. At present, not much is known about how folate metabolism affects other metabolic pathways in plants. Here we report a T-DNA insertion mutant (atdfb-3) of the plastidial folylpolyglutamate synthetase gene (AtDFB) was defective in seed reserves and skotomorphogenesis.