Cytokinin and Nitrogen-Mediated Gene Regulation for $C_4$ Photosynthesis

Nitrogen (N) is an important regulator of the expression of genes involved in carbon and N assimilation pathways in plants by selectively altering the levels of proteins and/or mRNAs. These in C4 plants include genes for such as phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, carbonic anhydrase, and pyruvate-Pi dikinase. The C4 genes are regulated in mesophyll cells by N availability both transcriptionally and posttranscriptionally through cytokinins and glutamine as signals. The level of both the signals is up-regulated by N availability: cytokinins in roots and glutamine in leaves. The level of glutamine is controlled by the differential expression by N of glutamine synthetase and ferrdoxin-dependent glutamate synthase genes which locate in the mesophyll cells of C4 plants. The results is discussed as molecular mechanism for the greater N use efficiency of the plants as well as N partitioning is the photosynthetic cells.