Chrysanthemum CmNAR2 interacts with CmNRT2 in the control of nitrate uptake

Nitrate transporters are an important component of plant growth and development. Chrysanthemum morifolium is an important ornamental species, for which a sufficient supply of nitrogenous fertilizer is required to maintain economic yields. In this study, the full-length cDNA of the nitrate transporter genes CmNRT2 and CmNAR2 were isolated. CmNRT2 transcript accumulation was inducible by both nitrate and ammonium, but the latter ion down-regulated the transcript accumulation of CmNAR2. CmNRT2 might be a plasma membrane localized protein, while CmNAR2 was distributed throughout the cell. CmNAR2 was shown to interact with CmNRT2 by in vitro and in vivo assays. Arabidopsis thaliana plants heterologously expressing CmNRT2 showed an increased rate of nitrate influx, while this trait was unaltered in plants expressing CmNAR2. Double transformants (CmNRT2 plus CmNAR2) exhibited an enhanced rate of nitrate influx into the root. Our data indicated that the interaction of CmNAR2 with CmNRT2 contributed to the uptake of nitrate.