Glutamate synthase and amino acid synthesis in higher plants

The discovery of glutamate synthase (NADPH-GOGAT, EC 1.4.1.13 and Fd-GOGAT, EC 1.4.7.1) in the 1970s gave rise to a new pathway of NH4+ assimilation into amino acids in concert with glutamine synthetase (GS, EC 6.3.1.2) (GS/GOGAT pathway). The subsequent studies led to an overall reassessment of the inorganic nitrogen assimilation into amino acids. This review dissects the research in Prof Pierre Gadal's laboratory in the 1970s and early 1980s, and the subsequent studies that contributed to our understanding of the primary nitrogen metabolism in plants.