Abstract
Plant class 1 Hb is widely spread in plant kingdom; its expression is low but detectable in all of the plant tissues. Although physiological function of class 1 Hb is not clear, class 1 Hb is expected to regulate nitric oxide (NO) level produced as a plant response against biotic and abiotic stresses. NO is an important signal molecule. It is revealed that NO is produced accompany with the expression of class 1 Hb when Lotus japonicus is inoculated with its symbiotic rhizobia. Furthermore, higher expression of class 1 Hb is detectable in nodules than in other tissues.
We have established the mutant lines of L. japonicus that have point mutation in class 1 Hb gene LjHb1. In this study, we analyzed phenotype of these mutant lines. The characteristics of the recombinant mutant LjHb1 proteins will also be discussed.
