RESUMEN
Ammonium (NH4 + ) represents a primary nitrogen source for many plants, its effective transport into and between tissues and further assimilation in cells determine greatly plant nitrogen use efficiency. However, biological components involved in NH4 + movement in woody plants are unclear. Here, we report kinetic evidence for cotton NH4 + uptake and molecular identification of certain NH4 + transporters (AMTs) from cotton (Gossypium hirustum). A substrate-influx assay using 15 N-isotope revealed that cotton possessed a high-affinity transport system with a Km of 58 µM for NH4 + . Sequence analysis showed that GhAMT1.1-1.3 encoded respectively a membrane protein containing 485, 509 or 499 amino acids. Heterologous functionality test demonstrated that GhAMT1.1-1.3 expression mediated NH4 + permeation across the plasma membrane (PM) of yeast and/or Arabidopsis qko-mutant cells, allowing a growth restoration of both mutants on NH4 + . Quantitative PCR measurement showed that GhAMT1.3 was expressed in roots and leaves and markedly up-regulated by N-starvation, repressed by NH4 + resupply and regulated diurnally and age-dependently, suggesting that GhAMT1.3 should be a N-responsive gene. Importantly, GhAMT1.3 expression in Arabidopsis improved plant growth on NH4 + and enhanced total nitrogen accumulation (â¼50% more), conforming with the observation of 2-fold more NH4 + absorption by GhAMT1.3-transformed qko plant roots during a 1-h root influx period. Together with its targeting to the PM and saturated transport kinetics with a Km of 72 µM for NH4 + , GhAMT1.3 is suggested to be a high-affinity NH4 + permease that may play a significant role in cotton NH4 + acquisition and utilization, adding a new member in the plant AMT family.