Abstract
Molecular and epigenetic ways of regulating the activity of key TCA enzymes, 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (2-OGDH) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH), in maize (Zea mays L.) leaves under hypoxic conditions were studied. It has been shown that regulation of the rate of enzyme functioning under stress conditions is caused not by conformational transformations of protein molecules but by changes in the transcriptional activity of their genes. Analysis into the level of transcripts of genes encoding 2-OGDH and MDH revealed a correlation with changes in the total enzymatic activity. When plants were incubated under hypoxic conditions, a decrease in the expression of the 2-OGDH and MDH genes was observed. It was found that fluctuations in the content of gene transcripts ogdh-1 and ogdh-3 is associated with a change in the methyl status of CG-dinucleotides in their promoters. An increase in the expression of these genes is associated with a decrease in the degree of methylation of their promoters. Conversely, a decrease in the relative level of transcripts is caused by an increase in the amount of methylated CG-dinucleotides. It is concluded that regulating the functioning of 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase under conditions of low oxygen concentrations takes place by means of an epigenetic mechanism, that is, by changing the methyl status of their gene promoters.
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