Nitrate assimilatory genes and their transcriptional regulation in a unicellular red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae: genetic evidence for nitrite reduction by a sulfite reductase-like enzyme.

Cyanidioschyzon merolae is a unicellular red alga living in acid hot springs, which is able to grow on ammonium, as well as nitrate as sole nitrogen source. Based on the complete genome sequence, proteins for nitrate utilization, nitrate transporter (NRT) and nitrate reductase (NR), were predicted to be encoded by the neighboring nuclear genes CMG018C and CMG019C, respectively, but no typical nitrite reductase (NiR) gene was found by similarity searches. On the other hand, two candidate genes for sulfite reductase (SiR) were found, one of which (CMG021C) is located next to the above-noted nitrate-related genes.

Cytoplasmic localization of the single glutamine synthetase in a unicellular red alga, Cyanidioschyzon merolae 10D.

Glutamine synthetase (GS) is a key enzyme for nitrogen assimilation. Although GS contains multiple molecular species found in plastid, mitochondria and cytoplasm in green plants and algae, genome analysis of a red alga, Cyanidioschyzon merolae, revealed a single nuclear gene for GS (CmGS). In this study, we experimentally determined the CmGS localization in the cytoplasmic compartment.