Metabolic profiling of maize mutants deficient for two glutamine synthetase isoenzymes using ¹H‐NMR‐based metabolomics

Abstract

Changes in the metabolic profile of the GS mutants suggest that, when cytosolic GS activity is strongly reduced, either alternative metabolic pathways participate in the reassimilation of ammonium released during leaf protein remobilization or that premature leaf senescence is induced when kernel set and kernel filling are affected. The accumulation of phenylalanine and tyrosine in the mutant plants indicates that lignin biosynthesis is altered, thus possibly affecting ear development.