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Pereira L, Bianconi ME, Osborne CP, Christin PA, Dunning LT. Alloteropsis semialata as a study system for C4 evolution in grasses. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2023; 132:365-382. [PMID: 37422712 PMCID: PMC10667010 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcad078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Numerous groups of plants have adapted to CO2 limitations by independently evolving C4 photosynthesis. This trait relies on concerted changes in anatomy and biochemistry to concentrate CO2 within the leaf and thereby boost productivity in tropical conditions. The ecological and economic importance of C4 photosynthesis has motivated intense research, often relying on comparisons between distantly related C4 and non-C4 plants. The photosynthetic type is fixed in most species, with the notable exception of the grass Alloteropsis semialata. This species includes populations exhibiting the ancestral C3 state in southern Africa, intermediate populations in the Zambezian region and C4 populations spread around the palaeotropics. SCOPE We compile here the knowledge on the distribution and evolutionary history of the Alloteropsis genus as a whole and discuss how this has furthered our understanding of C4 evolution. We then present a chromosome-level reference genome for a C3 individual and compare the genomic architecture with that of a C4 accession of A. semialata. CONCLUSIONS Alloteropsis semialata is one of the best systems in which to investigate the evolution of C4 photosynthesis because the genetic and phenotypic variation provides a fertile ground for comparative and population-level studies. Preliminary comparative genomic investigations show that the C3 and C4 genomes are highly syntenic and have undergone a modest amount of gene duplication and translocation since the different photosynthetic groups diverged. The background knowledge and publicly available genomic resources make A. semialata a great model for further comparative analyses of photosynthetic diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Pereira
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN,UK
| | - Matheus E Bianconi
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN,UK
| | - Colin P Osborne
- Plants, Photosynthesis and Soil, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - Pascal-Antoine Christin
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN,UK
| | - Luke T Dunning
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN,UK
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2
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Berasategui JA, Žerdoner Čalasan A, Zizka A, Kadereit G. Global distribution, climatic preferences and photosynthesis-related traits of C 4 eudicots and how they differ from those of C 4 grasses. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10720. [PMID: 37964791 PMCID: PMC10641307 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
C₄ is one of three known photosynthetic processes of carbon fixation in flowering plants. It evolved independently more than 61 times in multiple angiosperm lineages and consists of a series of anatomical and biochemical modifications to the ancestral C3 pathway increasing plant productivity under warm and light-rich conditions. The C4 lineages of eudicots belong to seven orders and 15 families, are phylogenetically less constrained than those of monocots and entail an enormous structural and ecological diversity. Eudicot C4 lineages likely evolved the C4 syndrome along different evolutionary paths. Therefore, a better understanding of this diversity is key to understanding the evolution of this complex trait as a whole. By compiling 1207 recognised C4 eudicots species described in the literature and presenting trait data among these species, we identify global centres of species richness and of high phylogenetic diversity. Furthermore, we discuss climatic preferences in the context of plant functional traits. We identify two hotspots of C4 eudicot diversity: arid regions of Mexico/Southern United States and Australia, which show a similarly high number of different C4 eudicot genera but differ in the number of C4 lineages that evolved in situ. Further eudicot C4 hotspots with many different families and genera are in South Africa, West Africa, Patagonia, Central Asia and the Mediterranean. In general, C4 eudicots are diverse in deserts and xeric shrublands, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas and shrublands. We found C4 eudicots to occur in areas with less annual precipitation than C4 grasses which can be explained by frequently associated adaptations to drought stress such as among others succulence and salt tolerance. The data indicate that C4 eudicot lineages utilising the NAD-ME decarboxylating enzyme grow in drier areas than those using the NADP-ME decarboxylating enzyme indicating biochemical restrictions of the later system in higher temperatures. We conclude that in most eudicot lineages, C4 evolved in ancestrally already drought-adapted clades and enabled these to further spread in these habitats and colonise even drier areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A. Berasategui
- Prinzessin Therese von Bayern Lehrstuhl für Systematik, Biodiversität & Evolution der PflanzenLudwig‐Maximilians Universität MünchenMünchenGermany
- Institute for Molecular PhysiologyJohannes Gutenberg‐University MainzMainzGermany
| | - Anže Žerdoner Čalasan
- Prinzessin Therese von Bayern Lehrstuhl für Systematik, Biodiversität & Evolution der PflanzenLudwig‐Maximilians Universität MünchenMünchenGermany
| | - Alexander Zizka
- Department of BiologyPhilipps‐University MarburgMarburgGermany
| | - Gudrun Kadereit
- Prinzessin Therese von Bayern Lehrstuhl für Systematik, Biodiversität & Evolution der PflanzenLudwig‐Maximilians Universität MünchenMünchenGermany
- Botanischer Garten München‐Nymphenburg und Botanische Staatssammlung MünchenStaatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen BayernsMünchenGermany
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3
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Benning UF, Chen L, Watson-Lazowski A, Henry C, Furbank RT, Ghannoum O. Spatial expression patterns of genes encoding sugar sensors in leaves of C4 and C3 grasses. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2023; 131:985-1000. [PMID: 37103118 PMCID: PMC10332396 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcad057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS The mechanisms of sugar sensing in grasses remain elusive, especially those using C4 photosynthesis even though a large proportion of the world's agricultural crops utilize this pathway. We addressed this gap by comparing the expression of genes encoding components of sugar sensors in C3 and C4 grasses, with a focus on source tissues of C4 grasses. Given C4 plants evolved into a two-cell carbon fixation system, it was hypothesized this may have also changed how sugars were sensed. METHODS For six C3 and eight C4 grasses, putative sugar sensor genes were identified for target of rapamycin (TOR), SNF1-related kinase 1 (SnRK1), hexokinase (HXK) and those involved in the metabolism of the sugar sensing metabolite trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) using publicly available RNA deep sequencing data. For several of these grasses, expression was compared in three ways: source (leaf) versus sink (seed), along the gradient of the leaf, and bundle sheath versus mesophyll cells. KEY RESULTS No positive selection of codons associated with the evolution of C4 photosynthesis was identified in sugar sensor proteins here. Expressions of genes encoding sugar sensors were relatively ubiquitous between source and sink tissues as well as along the leaf gradient of both C4 and C3 grasses. Across C4 grasses, SnRK1β1 and TPS1 were preferentially expressed in the mesophyll and bundle sheath cells, respectively. Species-specific differences of gene expression between the two cell types were also apparent. CONCLUSIONS This comprehensive transcriptomic study provides an initial foundation for elucidating sugar-sensing genes within major C4 and C3 crops. This study provides some evidence that C4 and C3 grasses do not differ in how sugars are sensed. While sugar sensor gene expression has a degree of stability along the leaf, there are some contrasts between the mesophyll and bundle sheath cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Urs F Benning
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, New South Wales 2753, Australia
| | - Lily Chen
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, New South Wales 2753, Australia
| | | | - Clemence Henry
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, New South Wales 2753, Australia
| | - Robert T Furbank
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| | - Oula Ghannoum
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, New South Wales 2753, Australia
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4
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Yogadasan N, Doxey AC, Chuong SDX. A Machine Learning Framework Identifies Plastid-Encoded Proteins Harboring C3 and C4 Distinguishing Sequence Information. Genome Biol Evol 2023; 15:evad129. [PMID: 37462292 PMCID: PMC10368328 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evad129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023] Open
Abstract
C4 photosynthesis is known to have at least 61 independent origins across plant lineages making it one of the most notable examples of convergent evolution. Of the >60 independent origins, a predicted 22-24 origins, encompassing greater than 50% of all known C4 species, exist within the Panicoideae, Arundinoideae, Chloridoideae, Micrairoideae, Aristidoideae, and Danthonioideae (PACMAD) clade of the Poaceae family. This clade is therefore primed with species ideal for the study of genomic changes associated with the acquisition of the C4 photosynthetic trait. In this study, we take advantage of the growing availability of sequenced plastid genomes and employ a machine learning (ML) approach to screen for plastid genes harboring C3 and C4 distinguishing information in PACMAD species. We demonstrate that certain plastid-encoded protein sequences possess distinguishing and informative sequence information that allows them to train accurate ML C3/C4 classification models. Our RbcL-trained model, for example, informs a C3/C4 classifier with greater than 99% accuracy. Accurate prediction of photosynthetic type from individual sequences suggests biologically relevant, and potentially differing roles of these sequence products in C3 versus C4 metabolism. With this ML framework, we have identified several key sequences and sites that are most predictive of C3/C4 status, including RbcL, subunits of the NAD(P)H dehydrogenase complex, and specific residues within, further highlighting their potential significance in the evolution and/or maintenance of C4 photosynthetic machinery. This general approach can be applied to uncover intricate associations between other similar genotype-phenotype relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrew C Doxey
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Simon D X Chuong
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
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5
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Prochetto S, Studer AJ, Reinheimer R. De novo transcriptome assemblies of C 3 and C 4 non-model grass species reveal key differences in leaf development. BMC Genomics 2023; 24:64. [PMID: 36747121 PMCID: PMC9901097 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-022-08995-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/06/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND C4 photosynthesis is a mechanism that plants have evolved to reduce the rate of photorespiration during the carbon fixation process. The C4 pathway allows plants to adapt to high temperatures and light while more efficiently using resources, such as water and nitrogen. Despite decades of studies, the evolution of the C4 pathway from a C3 ancestor remains a biological enigma. Interestingly, species with C3-C4 intermediates photosynthesis are usually found closely related to the C4 lineages. Indeed, current models indicate that the assembly of C4 photosynthesis was a gradual process that included the relocalization of photorespiratory enzymes, and the establishment of intermediate photosynthesis subtypes. More than a third of the C4 origins occurred within the grass family (Poaceae). In particular, the Otachyriinae subtribe (Paspaleae tribe) includes 35 American species from C3, C4, and intermediates taxa making it an interesting lineage to answer questions about the evolution of photosynthesis. RESULTS To explore the molecular mechanisms that underpin the evolution of C4 photosynthesis, the transcriptomic dynamics along four different leaf segments, that capture different stages of development, were compared among Otachyriinae non-model species. For this, leaf transcriptomes were sequenced, de novo assembled, and annotated. Gene expression patterns of key pathways along the leaf segments showed distinct differences between photosynthetic subtypes. In addition, genes associated with photorespiration and the C4 cycle were differentially expressed between C4 and C3 species, but their expression patterns were well preserved throughout leaf development. CONCLUSIONS New, high-confidence, protein-coding leaf transcriptomes were generated using high-throughput short-read sequencing. These transcriptomes expand what is currently known about gene expression in leaves of non-model grass species. We found conserved expression patterns of C4 cycle and photorespiratory genes among C3, intermediate, and C4 species, suggesting a prerequisite for the evolution of C4 photosynthesis. This dataset represents a valuable contribution to the existing genomic resources and provides new tools for future investigation of photosynthesis evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santiago Prochetto
- grid.10798.370000 0001 2172 9456Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, CONICET, CCT-Santa Fe, Ruta Nacional N° 168 Km 0, s/n, Paraje el Pozo, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Anthony J. Studer
- grid.35403.310000 0004 1936 9991Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, 1201 West Gregory Drive, Edward R. Madigan Laboratory #289, Urbana, IL 61801 USA
| | - Renata Reinheimer
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, FCA, CONICET, CCT-Santa Fe, Ruta Nacional N° 168 Km 0, s/n, Paraje el Pozo, Santa Fe, Argentina.
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6
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Pradhan B, Panda D, Bishi SK, Chakraborty K, Muthusamy SK, Lenka SK. Progress and prospects of C 4 trait engineering in plants. PLANT BIOLOGY (STUTTGART, GERMANY) 2022; 24:920-931. [PMID: 35727191 DOI: 10.1111/plb.13446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Incorporating C4 photosynthetic traits into C3 crops is a rational approach for sustaining future demands for crop productivity. Using classical plant breeding, engineering this complex trait is unlikely to achieve its target. Therefore, it is critical and timely to implement novel biotechnological crop improvement strategies to accomplish this goal. However, a fundamental understanding of C3 , C4 , and C3 -C4 intermediate metabolism is crucial for the targeted use of biotechnological tools. This review assesses recent progress towards engineering C4 photosynthetic traits in C3 crops. We also discuss lessons learned from successes and failures of recent genetic engineering attempts in C3 crops, highlighting the pros and cons of using rice as a model plant for short-, medium- and long-term goals of genetic engineering. This review provides an integrated approach towards engineering improved photosynthetic efficiency in C3 crops for sustaining food, fibre and fuel production around the globe.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Pradhan
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty Centre for Integrated Rural Development and Management, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Kolkata, India
| | - D Panda
- Department of Biodiversity & Conservation of Natural Resources, Central University of Odisha, Koraput, India
| | - S K Bishi
- School of Genomics and Molecular Breeding, ICAR-Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology, Ranchi, India
| | - K Chakraborty
- Department of Plant Physiology, ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, India
| | - S K Muthusamy
- Division of Crop Improvement, ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, India
| | - S K Lenka
- Department of Plant Biotechnology, Gujarat Biotechnology University, Gujarat, India
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7
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Simpson CJC, Reeves G, Tripathi A, Singh P, Hibberd JM. Using breeding and quantitative genetics to understand the C4 pathway. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2022; 73:3072-3084. [PMID: 34747993 PMCID: PMC9126733 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erab486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Reducing photorespiration in C3 crops could significantly increase rates of photosynthesis and yield. One method to achieve this would be to integrate C4 photosynthesis into C3 species. This objective is challenging as it involves engineering incompletely understood traits into C3 leaves, including complex changes to their biochemistry, cell biology, and anatomy. Quantitative genetics and selective breeding offer underexplored routes to identify regulators of these processes. We first review examples of natural intraspecific variation in C4 photosynthesis as well as the potential for hybridization between C3 and C4 species. We then discuss how quantitative genetic approaches including artificial selection and genome-wide association could be used to better understand the C4 syndrome and in so doing guide the engineering of the C4 pathway into C3 crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conor J C Simpson
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Gregory Reeves
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Anoop Tripathi
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Pallavi Singh
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Julian M Hibberd
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Correspondence:
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8
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Huang W, Zhang L, Columbus JT, Hu Y, Zhao Y, Tang L, Guo Z, Chen W, McKain M, Bartlett M, Huang CH, Li DZ, Ge S, Ma H. A well-supported nuclear phylogeny of Poaceae and implications for the evolution of C 4 photosynthesis. MOLECULAR PLANT 2022; 15:755-777. [PMID: 35093593 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2022.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Revised: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Poaceae (the grasses) includes rice, maize, wheat, and other crops, and is the most economically important angiosperm family. Poaceae is also one of the largest plant families, consisting of over 11 000 species with a global distribution that contributes to diverse ecosystems. Poaceae species are classified into 12 subfamilies, with generally strong phylogenetic support for their monophyly. However, many relationships within subfamilies, among tribes and/or subtribes, remain uncertain. To better resolve the Poaceae phylogeny, we generated 342 transcriptomic and seven genomic datasets; these were combined with other genomic and transcriptomic datasets to provide sequences for 357 Poaceae species in 231 genera, representing 45 tribes and all 12 subfamilies. Over 1200 low-copy nuclear genes were retrieved from these datasets, with several subsets obtained using additional criteria, and used for coalescent analyses to reconstruct a Poaceae phylogeny. Our results strongly support the monophyly of 11 subfamilies; however, the subfamily Puelioideae was separated into two non-sister clades, one for each of the two previously defined tribes, supporting a hypothesis that places each tribe in a separate subfamily. Molecular clock analyses estimated the crown age of Poaceae to be ∼101 million years old. Ancestral character reconstruction of C3/C4 photosynthesis supports the hypothesis of multiple independent origins of C4 photosynthesis. These origins are further supported by phylogenetic analysis of the ppc gene family that encodes the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, which suggests that members of three paralogous subclades (ppc-aL1a, ppc-aL1b, and ppc-B2) were recruited as functional C4ppc genes. This study provides valuable resources and a robust phylogenetic framework for evolutionary analyses of the grass family.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weichen Huang
- Department of Biology, 510 Mueller Laboratory, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA
| | - Lin Zhang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering and State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Sciences and Institute of Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - J Travis Columbus
- Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Claremont Graduate University, 1500 North College Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
| | - Yi Hu
- Department of Biology, 510 Mueller Laboratory, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA
| | - Yiyong Zhao
- Department of Biology, 510 Mueller Laboratory, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering and State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Sciences and Institute of Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Lin Tang
- Department of Biology, 510 Mueller Laboratory, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA; College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Zhenhua Guo
- Plant Germplasm and Genomics Center, Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201 China
| | - Wenli Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
| | - Michael McKain
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, 411 Mary Harmon Bryant Hall, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
| | - Madelaine Bartlett
- Biology Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 611 North Pleasant Street, 221 Morrill 3, Amherst, MA 01003 USA
| | - Chien-Hsun Huang
- Department of Biology, 510 Mueller Laboratory, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering and State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Sciences and Institute of Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - De-Zhu Li
- Plant Germplasm and Genomics Center, Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650201 China
| | - Song Ge
- State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
| | - Hong Ma
- Department of Biology, 510 Mueller Laboratory, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA.
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Borghi GL, Arrivault S, Günther M, Barbosa Medeiros D, Dell’Aversana E, Fusco GM, Carillo P, Ludwig M, Fernie AR, Lunn JE, Stitt M. Metabolic profiles in C3, C3-C4 intermediate, C4-like, and C4 species in the genus Flaveria. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2022; 73:1581-1601. [PMID: 34910813 PMCID: PMC8890617 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erab540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
C4 photosynthesis concentrates CO2 around Rubisco in the bundle sheath, favouring carboxylation over oxygenation and decreasing photorespiration. This complex trait evolved independently in >60 angiosperm lineages. Its evolution can be investigated in genera such as Flaveria (Asteraceae) that contain species representing intermediate stages between C3 and C4 photosynthesis. Previous studies have indicated that the first major change in metabolism probably involved relocation of glycine decarboxylase and photorespiratory CO2 release to the bundle sheath and establishment of intercellular shuttles to maintain nitrogen stoichiometry. This was followed by selection for a CO2-concentrating cycle between phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in the mesophyll and decarboxylases in the bundle sheath, and relocation of Rubisco to the latter. We have profiled 52 metabolites in nine Flaveria species and analysed 13CO2 labelling patterns for four species. Our results point to operation of multiple shuttles, including movement of aspartate in C3-C4 intermediates and a switch towards a malate/pyruvate shuttle in C4-like species. The malate/pyruvate shuttle increases from C4-like to complete C4 species, accompanied by a rise in ancillary organic acid pools. Our findings support current models and uncover further modifications of metabolism along the evolutionary path to C4 photosynthesis in the genus Flaveria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gian Luca Borghi
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Stéphanie Arrivault
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
- Correspondence:
| | - Manuela Günther
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - David Barbosa Medeiros
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Emilia Dell’Aversana
- Universitá degli Studi della Campania, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
| | - Giovanna Marta Fusco
- Universitá degli Studi della Campania, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
| | - Petronia Carillo
- Universitá degli Studi della Campania, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
| | - Martha Ludwig
- The University of Western Australia, School of Molecular Sciences, 35 Stirling Highway, 6009 Perth, Australia
| | - Alisdair R Fernie
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - John E Lunn
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Mark Stitt
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
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10
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Lo SF, Chatterjee J, Biswal AK, Liu IL, Chang YP, Chen PJ, Wanchana S, Elmido-Mabilangan A, Nepomuceno RA, Bandyopadhyay A, Hsing YI, Quick WP. Closer vein spacing by ectopic expression of nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat proteins in rice leaves. PLANT CELL REPORTS 2022; 41:319-335. [PMID: 34837515 PMCID: PMC8850240 DOI: 10.1007/s00299-021-02810-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Elevated expression of nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat proteins led to closer vein spacing and higher vein density in rice leaves. To feed the growing global population and mitigate the negative effects of climate change, there is a need to improve the photosynthetic capacity and efficiency of major crops such as rice to enhance grain yield potential. Alterations in internal leaf morphology and cellular architecture are needed to underpin some of these improvements. One of the targets is to generate a "Kranz-like" anatomy in leaves that includes decreased interveinal spacing close to that in C4 plant species. As C4 photosynthesis has evolved from C3 photosynthesis independently in multiple lineages, the genes required to facilitate C4 may already be present in the rice genome. The Taiwan Rice Insertional Mutants (TRIM) population offers the advantage of gain-of-function phenotype trapping, which accelerates the identification of rice gene function. In the present study, we screened the TRIM population to determine the extent to which genetic plasticity can alter vein density (VD) in rice. Close vein spacing mutant 1 (CVS1), identified from a VD screening of approximately 17,000 TRIM lines, conferred heritable high leaf VD. Increased vein number in CVS1 was confirmed to be associated with activated expression of two nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) proteins. Overexpression of the two NB-LRR genes individually in rice recapitulates the high VD phenotype, due mainly to reduced interveinal mesophyll cell (M cell) number, length, bulliform cell size and thus interveinal distance. Our studies demonstrate that the trait of high VD in rice can be achieved by elevated expression of NB-LRR proteins limited to no yield penalty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuen-Fang Lo
- Biotechnology Center, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 402, Taiwan, ROC.
| | - Jolly Chatterjee
- C4 Rice Centre, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Philippines
| | - Akshaya K Biswal
- C4 Rice Centre, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Philippines
- Genetic Resources Program, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Carretera México-Veracruz km. 45, El Batán, Texcoco, CP 56237, México
| | - I-Lun Liu
- Biotechnology Center, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 402, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Yu-Pei Chang
- Biotechnology Center, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 402, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Pei-Jing Chen
- Biotechnology Center, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 402, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Samart Wanchana
- C4 Rice Centre, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Philippines
| | | | - Robert A Nepomuceno
- National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of the Philippines (BIOTECH-UPLB), Los Baños, 4031, Philippines
| | | | - Yue-Ie Hsing
- Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 115, Taiwan, ROC
| | - William Paul Quick
- C4 Rice Centre, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Philippines.
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
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11
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Winter K, Garcia M, Virgo A, Ceballos J, Holtum JAM. Does the C 4 plant Trianthema portulacastrum (Aizoaceae) exhibit weakly expressed crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM)? FUNCTIONAL PLANT BIOLOGY : FPB 2021; 48:655-665. [PMID: 33213694 DOI: 10.1071/fp20247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/06/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
We examined whether crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is present in Trianthema portulacastrum L. (Aizoaceae), a pantropical, salt-tolerant C4 annual herb with atriplicoid-type Kranz anatomy in leaves but not in stems. The leaves of T. portulacastrum are slightly succulent and the stems are fleshy, similar to some species of Portulaca, the only genus known in which C4 and CAM co-occur. Low- level nocturnal acidification typical of weakly expressed, predominantly constitutive CAM was measured in plants grown for their entire life-cycle in an outdoor raised garden box. Acidification was greater in stems than in leaves. Plants showed net CO2 uptake only during the light irrespective of soil water availability. However, nocturnal traces of CO2 exchange exhibited curved kinetics of reduced CO2 loss during the middle of the night consistent with low-level CAM. Trianthema becomes the second genus of vascular land plants in which C4 and features of CAM have been demonstrated to co-occur in the same plant and the first C4 plant with CAM-type acidification described for the Aizoaceae. Traditionally the stems of herbs are not sampled in screening studies. Small herbs with mildly succulent leaves and fleshy stems might be a numerically significant component of CAM biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Winter
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama; and Corresponding author.
| | - Milton Garcia
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
| | - Aurelio Virgo
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
| | - Jorge Ceballos
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
| | - Joseph A M Holtum
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama; and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia
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12
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Khoshravesh R, Stata M, Adachi S, Sage TL, Sage RF. Evolutionary Convergence of C 4 Photosynthesis: A Case Study in the Nyctaginaceae. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 11:578739. [PMID: 33224166 PMCID: PMC7667235 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.578739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Accepted: 10/06/2020] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
C4 photosynthesis evolved over 65 times, with around 24 origins in the eudicot order Caryophyllales. In the Caryophyllales family Nyctaginaceae, the C4 pathway is known in three genera of the tribe Nyctagineae: Allionia, Okenia and Boerhavia. Phylogenetically, Allionia and Boerhavia/Okenia are separated by three genera whose photosynthetic pathway is uncertain. To clarify the distribution of photosynthetic pathways in the Nyctaginaceae, we surveyed carbon isotope ratios of 159 species of the Nyctaginaceae, along with bundle sheath (BS) cell ultrastructure, leaf gas exchange, and C4 pathway biochemistry in five species from the two C4 clades and closely related C3 genera. All species in Allionia, Okenia and Boerhavia are C4, while no C4 species occur in any other genera of the family, including three that branch between Allionia and Boerhavia. This demonstrates that C4 photosynthesis evolved twice in Nyctaginaceae. Boerhavia species use the NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME) subtype of C4 photosynthesis, while Allionia species use the NAD-malic enzyme (NAD-ME) subtype. The BS cells of Allionia have many more mitochondria than the BS of Boerhavia. Bundle sheath mitochondria are closely associated with chloroplasts in Allionia which facilitates CO2 refixation following decarboxylation by mitochondrial NAD-ME. The close relationship between Allionia and Boerhavia could provide insights into why NADP-ME versus NAD-ME subtypes evolve, particularly when coupled to analysis of their respective genomes. As such, the group is an excellent system to dissect the organizational hierarchy of convergent versus divergent traits produced by C4 evolution, enabling us to understand when convergence is favored versus when divergent modifications can result in a common phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roxana Khoshravesh
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Matt Stata
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Shunsuke Adachi
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Institute of Global Innovation Research, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Japan
| | - Tammy L. Sage
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Rowan F. Sage
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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13
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Lin H, Arrivault S, Coe RA, Karki S, Covshoff S, Bagunu E, Lunn JE, Stitt M, Furbank RT, Hibberd JM, Quick WP. A Partial C 4 Photosynthetic Biochemical Pathway in Rice. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 11:564463. [PMID: 33178234 PMCID: PMC7593541 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.564463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Accepted: 09/25/2020] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Introduction of a C4 photosynthetic pathway into C3 rice (Oryza sativa) requires installation of a biochemical pump that concentrates CO2 at the site of carboxylation in modified bundle sheath cells. To investigate the feasibility of this, we generated a quadruple line that simultaneously accumulates four of the core C4 photosynthetic enzymes from the NADP-malic enzyme subtype, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (ZmPEPC), NADP-malate dehydrogenase (ZmNADP-MDH), NADP-malic enzyme (ZmNADP-ME), and pyruvate phosphate dikinase (ZmPPDK). This led to enhanced enzyme activity and mild phenotypic perturbations but was largely neutral in its effects on photosynthetic rate. Measurements of the flux of 13CO2 through photosynthetic metabolism revealed a significant increase in the incorporation of 13C into malate, consistent with increased fixation of 13CO2 via PEP carboxylase in lines expressing the maize PEPC enzyme. However, there was no significant differences in labeling of 3-phosphoglycerate (3PGA) indicating that there was no carbon flux through NADP-ME into the Calvin-Benson cycle. There was also no significant difference in labeling of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) indicating that there was no carbon flux through PPDK. Crossing the quadruple line with a line with reduced glycine decarboxylase H-protein (OsGDCH) abundance led to a photosynthetic phenotype characteristic of the reduced OsGDCH line and higher labeling of malate, aspartate and citrate than in the quintuple line. There was evidence of 13C labeling of aspartate indicating 13CO2 fixation into oxaloacetate by PEPC and conversion to aspartate by the endogenous aspartate aminotransferase activity. While Kranz anatomy or other anatomical modifications have not yet been installed in these plants to enable a fully functional C4 cycle, these results demonstrate for the first-time a partial flux through the carboxylation phase of NADP-ME C4 metabolism in transgenic rice containing two of the key metabolic steps in the C4 pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- HsiangChun Lin
- C4 Rice Centre, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Philippines
| | - Stéphanie Arrivault
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP), Potsdam, Germany
| | - Robert A. Coe
- C4 Rice Centre, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Philippines
| | - Shanta Karki
- National Centre for Fruit Development, Kirtipur, Nepal
| | - Sarah Covshoff
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Efren Bagunu
- C4 Rice Centre, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Philippines
| | - John E. Lunn
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP), Potsdam, Germany
| | - Mark Stitt
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP), Potsdam, Germany
| | - Robert T. Furbank
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT, Australia
| | - Julian M. Hibberd
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - William Paul Quick
- C4 Rice Centre, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Philippines
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: William Paul Quick,
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14
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Winter K, Garcia M, Virgo A, Holtum JAM. Operating at the very low end of the crassulacean acid metabolism spectrum: Sesuvium portulacastrum (Aizoaceae). JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2019; 70:6561-6570. [PMID: 30535159 PMCID: PMC6883264 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/ery431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2018] [Accepted: 11/30/2018] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Demonstration of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) in species with low usage of this system relative to C3-photosynthetic CO2 assimilation can be challenging experimentally but provides crucial information on the early steps of CAM evolution. Here, weakly expressed CAM was detected in the well-known pantropical coastal, leaf-succulent herb Sesuvium portulacastrum, demonstrating that CAM is present in the Sesuvioideae, the only sub-family of the Aizoaceae in which it had not yet been shown conclusively. In outdoor plots in Panama, leaves and stems of S. portulacastrum consistently exhibited a small degree of nocturnal acidification which, in leaves, increased during the dry season. In potted plants, nocturnal acidification was mainly facultative, as levels of acidification increased in a reversible manner following the imposition of short-term water-stress. In drought-stressed plants, nocturnal net CO2 exchange approached the CO2-compensation point, consistent with low rates of CO2 dark fixation sufficient to eliminate respiratory carbon loss. Detection of low-level CAM in S. portulacastrum adds to the growing number of species that cannot be considered C3 plants sensu stricto, although they obtain CO2 principally via the C3 pathway. Knowledge about the presence/absence of low-level CAM is critical when assessing trajectories of CAM evolution in lineages. The genus Sesuvium is of particular interest because it also contains C4 species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Winter
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
| | - Milton Garcia
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
| | - Aurelio Virgo
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
| | - Joseph A M Holtum
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
- Centre for Tropical Biodiversity and Climate Change, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
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15
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Yorimitsu Y, Kadosono A, Hatakeyama Y, Yabiku T, Ueno O. Transition from C 3 to proto-Kranz to C 3-C 4 intermediate type in the genus Chenopodium (Chenopodiaceae). JOURNAL OF PLANT RESEARCH 2019; 132:839-855. [PMID: 31473860 PMCID: PMC7205854 DOI: 10.1007/s10265-019-01135-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2019] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The Chenopodiaceae is one of the families including C4 species among eudicots. In this family, the genus Chenopodium is considered to include only C3 species. However, we report here a transition from C3 photosynthesis to proto-Kranz to C3-C4 intermediate type in Chenopodium. We investigated leaf anatomical and photosynthetic traits of 15 species, of which 8 species showed non-Kranz anatomy and a CO2 compensation point (Γ) typical of C3 plants. However, 5 species showed proto-Kranz anatomy and a C3-like Γ, whereas C. strictum showed leaf anatomy and a Γ typical of C3-C4 intermediates. Chenopodium album accessions examined included both proto-Kranz and C3-C4 intermediate types, depending on locality. Glycine decarboxylase, a key photorespiratory enzyme that is involved in the decarboxylation of glycine, was located predominantly in the mesophyll (M) cells of C3 species, in both M and bundle-sheath (BS) cells in proto-Kranz species, and exclusively in BS cells in C3-C4 intermediate species. The M/BS tissue area ratio, number of chloroplasts and mitochondria per BS cell, distribution of these organelles to the centripetal region of BS cells, the degree of inner positioning (vacuolar side of chloroplasts) of mitochondria in M cells, and the size of BS mitochondria also changed with the change in glycine decarboxylase localization. All Chenopodium species examined were C3-like regarding activities and amounts of C3 and C4 photosynthetic enzymes and δ13C values, suggesting that these species perform photosynthesis without contribution of the C4 cycle. This study demonstrates that Chenopodium is not a C3 genus and is valuable for studying evolution of C3-C4 intermediates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuki Yorimitsu
- Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan
| | - Aya Kadosono
- School of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan
| | - Yuto Hatakeyama
- Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan
| | - Takayuki Yabiku
- Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan
| | - Osamu Ueno
- Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan.
- School of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan.
- Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan.
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16
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Dehigaspitiya P, Milham P, Ash GJ, Arun-Chinnappa K, Gamage D, Martin A, Nagasaka S, Seneweera S. Exploring natural variation of photosynthesis in a site-specific manner: evolution, progress, and prospects. PLANTA 2019; 250:1033-1050. [PMID: 31254100 DOI: 10.1007/s00425-019-03223-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2019] [Accepted: 06/20/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Site-specific changes of photosynthesis, a relatively new concept, can be used to improve the productivity of critical food crops to mitigate the foreseen food crisis. Global food security is threatened by an increasing population and the effects of climate change. Large yield improvements were achieved in major cereal crops between the 1950s and 1980s through the Green Revolution. However, we are currently experiencing a significant decline in yield progress. Of the many approaches to improved cereal yields, exploitation of the mode of photosynthesis has been intensely studied. Even though the C4 pathway is considered the most efficient, mainly because of the carbon concentrating mechanisms around the enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, which minimize photorespiration, much is still unknown about the specific gene regulation of this mode of photosynthesis. Most of the critical cereal crops, including wheat and rice, are categorized as C3 plants based on the photosynthesis of major photosynthetic organs. However, recent findings raise the possibility of different modes of photosynthesis occurring at different sites in the same plant and/or in plants grown in different habitats. That is, it seems possible that efficient photosynthetic traits may be expressed in specific organs, even though the major photosynthetic pathway is C3. Knowledge of site-specific differences in photosynthesis, coupled with site-specific regulation of gene expression, may therefore hold a potential to enhance the yields of economically important C3 crops.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Paul Milham
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, LB 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2753, Australia
| | - Gavin J Ash
- Centre for Crop Health, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia
| | - Kiruba Arun-Chinnappa
- Centre for Crop Health, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia
| | - Dananjali Gamage
- Centre for Crop Health, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia
| | - Anke Martin
- Centre for Crop Health, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia
| | - Seiji Nagasaka
- Centre for Crop Health, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia
| | - Saman Seneweera
- Centre for Crop Health, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia.
- National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Hanthana Road, Kandy, 20000, Central, Sri Lanka.
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17
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Bohley K, Schröder T, Kesselmeier J, Ludwig M, Kadereit G. C4-like photosynthesis and the effects of leaf senescence on C4-like physiology in Sesuvium sesuvioides (Aizoaceae). JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2019; 70:1553-1565. [PMID: 30689935 PMCID: PMC6411375 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erz011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2018] [Accepted: 01/07/2019] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Sesuvium sesuvioides (Sesuvioideae, Aizoaceae) is a perennial, salt-tolerant herb distributed in flats, depressions, or disturbed habitats of southern Africa and the Cape Verdes. Based on carbon isotope values, it is considered a C4 species, despite a relatively high ratio of mesophyll to bundle sheath cells (2.7:1) in the portulacelloid leaf anatomy. Using leaf anatomy, immunocytochemistry, gas exchange measurements, and enzyme activity assays, we sought to identify the biochemical subtype of C4 photosynthesis used by S. sesuvioides and to explore the anatomical, physiological, and biochemical traits of young, mature, and senescing leaves, with the aim to elucidate the plasticity and possible limitations of the photosynthetic efficiency in this species. Assays indicated that S. sesuvioides employs the NADP-malic enzyme as the major decarboxylating enzyme. The activity of C4 enzymes, however, declined as leaves aged, and the proportion of water storage tissue increased while air space decreased. These changes suggest a functional shift from photosynthesis to water storage in older leaves. Interestingly, S. sesuvioides demonstrated CO2 compensation points ranging between C4 and C3-C4 intermediate values, and immunocytochemistry revealed labeling of the Rubisco large subunit in mesophyll cells. We hypothesize that S. sesuvioides represents a young C4 lineage with C4-like photosynthesis in which C3 and C4 cycles are running simultaneously in the mesophyll.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Bohley
- Institut für Molekulare Physiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany
- Institut für Organismische und Molekulare Evolutionsbiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany
| | - Till Schröder
- Philipps-Universität, FB 16–Pharmazie, Marburg, Germany
| | - Jürgen Kesselmeier
- Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Multiphase Chemistry Department, Mainz, Germany
| | - Martha Ludwig
- School of Molecular Sciences [310], University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Gudrun Kadereit
- Institut für Molekulare Physiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany
- Institut für Organismische und Molekulare Evolutionsbiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany
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18
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Qiao X, Li Q, Yin H, Qi K, Li L, Wang R, Zhang S, Paterson AH. Gene duplication and evolution in recurring polyploidization-diploidization cycles in plants. Genome Biol 2019; 20:38. [PMID: 30791939 PMCID: PMC6383267 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-019-1650-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 428] [Impact Index Per Article: 85.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2018] [Accepted: 02/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The sharp increase of plant genome and transcriptome data provide valuable resources to investigate evolutionary consequences of gene duplication in a range of taxa, and unravel common principles underlying duplicate gene retention. RESULTS We survey 141 sequenced plant genomes to elucidate consequences of gene and genome duplication, processes central to the evolution of biodiversity. We develop a pipeline named DupGen_finder to identify different modes of gene duplication in plants. Genes derived from whole-genome, tandem, proximal, transposed, or dispersed duplication differ in abundance, selection pressure, expression divergence, and gene conversion rate among genomes. The number of WGD-derived duplicate genes decreases exponentially with increasing age of duplication events-transposed duplication- and dispersed duplication-derived genes declined in parallel. In contrast, the frequency of tandem and proximal duplications showed no significant decrease over time, providing a continuous supply of variants available for adaptation to continuously changing environments. Moreover, tandem and proximal duplicates experienced stronger selective pressure than genes formed by other modes and evolved toward biased functional roles involved in plant self-defense. The rate of gene conversion among WGD-derived gene pairs declined over time, peaking shortly after polyploidization. To provide a platform for accessing duplicated gene pairs in different plants, we constructed the Plant Duplicate Gene Database. CONCLUSIONS We identify a comprehensive landscape of different modes of gene duplication across the plant kingdom by comparing 141 genomes, which provides a solid foundation for further investigation of the dynamic evolution of duplicate genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Qiao
- Centre of Pear Engineering Technology Research, State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China
| | - Qionghou Li
- Centre of Pear Engineering Technology Research, State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China
| | - Hao Yin
- Centre of Pear Engineering Technology Research, State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China
| | - Kaijie Qi
- Centre of Pear Engineering Technology Research, State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China
| | - Leiting Li
- Centre of Pear Engineering Technology Research, State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China
| | - Runze Wang
- Centre of Pear Engineering Technology Research, State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China
| | - Shaoling Zhang
- Centre of Pear Engineering Technology Research, State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China
| | - Andrew H. Paterson
- Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30605 USA
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Niklaus M, Kelly S. The molecular evolution of C4 photosynthesis: opportunities for understanding and improving the world's most productive plants. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2019; 70:795-804. [PMID: 30462241 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/ery416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2018] [Accepted: 11/09/2018] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
C4 photosynthesis is a convergent evolutionary trait that enhances photosynthetic efficiency in a variety of environmental conditions. It has evolved repeatedly following a fall in atmospheric CO2 concentration such that there is up to a 30 million year difference in the amount of time that natural selection has had to improve C4 function between the oldest and youngest C4 lineages. This large difference in time, coupled with the phylogenetic distance between lineages, has resulted in a large disparity in anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry between extant C4 species. This review summarizes the myriad of molecular sequence changes that have been linked to the evolution of C4 photosynthesis. These range from single nucleotide changes to duplication of entire genes, and provide a roadmap for how natural selection has adapted enzymes and pathways for enhanced C4 function. Finally, this review discusses how this molecular diversity can provide opportunities for understanding and improving photosynthesis for multiple important C4 food, feed, and bioenergy crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Niklaus
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Steven Kelly
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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20
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Watson-Lazowski A, Papanicolaou A, Sharwood R, Ghannoum O. Investigating the NAD-ME biochemical pathway within C 4 grasses using transcript and amino acid variation in C 4 photosynthetic genes. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2018; 138:233-248. [PMID: 30078073 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-018-0569-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2018] [Accepted: 07/28/2018] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Expanding knowledge of the C4 photosynthetic pathway can provide key information to aid biological improvements to crop photosynthesis and yield. While the C4 NADP-ME pathway is well characterised, there is increasing agricultural and bioengineering interest in the comparably understudied NAD-ME and PEPCK pathways. Within this study, a systematic identification of key differences across species has allowed us to investigate the evolution of C4-recruited genes in one C3 and eleven C4 grasses (Poaceae) spanning two independent origins of C4 photosynthesis. We present evidence for C4-specific paralogs of NAD-malic enzyme 2, MPC1 and MPC2 (mitochondrial pyruvate carriers) via increased transcript abundance and associated rates of evolution, implicating them as genes recruited to perform C4 photosynthesis within NAD-ME and PEPCK subtypes. We then investigate the localisation of AspAT across subtypes, using novel and published evidence to place AspAT3 in both the cytosol and peroxisome. Finally, these findings are integrated with transcript abundance of previously identified C4 genes to provide an updated model for C4 grass NAD-ME and PEPCK photosynthesis. This updated model allows us to develop on the current understanding of NAD-ME and PEPCK photosynthesis in grasses, bolstering our efforts to understand the evolutionary 'path to C4' and improve C4 photosynthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Watson-Lazowski
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia.
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
| | - Alexie Papanicolaou
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Robert Sharwood
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Oula Ghannoum
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
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Voznesenskaya EV, Koteyeva NK, Cousins A, Edwards GE. Diversity in structure and forms of carbon assimilation in photosynthetic organs in Cleome (Cleomaceae). FUNCTIONAL PLANT BIOLOGY : FPB 2018; 45:983-999. [PMID: 32290998 DOI: 10.1071/fp17323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2017] [Accepted: 03/23/2018] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Photosynthesis in different organs of Cleome was analysed in four species known to have differences in leaf photosynthesis: Cleome africana Botsch. (C3), Cleome paradoxa R.Br. (C3-C4 intermediate), Cleome angustifolia Forssk. and Cleome gynandra L. (C4). The chlorophyll content, carbon isotope composition, stomatal densities, anatomy, levels and compartmentation of some key photosynthetic enzymes, and the form and function of photosynthesis were determined in different organs of these species. In the three xerophytes, C. africana, C. paradoxa, and C. angustifolia, multiple organs contribute to photosynthesis (cotyledons, leaves, petioles, stems and pods) which is considered important for their survival under arid conditions. In C. africana, all photosynthetic organs have C3 photosynthesis. In C. paradoxa, cotyledons, leaves, stems and petioles have C3-C4 type features. In C. angustifolia, the pods have C3 photosynthesis, whereas all other organs have C4 photosynthesis with Kranz anatomy formed by a continuous, dual layer of chlorenchyma cells. In the subtropical C4 species C. gynandra, cotyledons, leaves, and pods develop C4 photosynthesis, with Kranz anatomy around individual veins; but not in stems and petioles which have limited function of photosynthesis. The diversity in forms and the capacity of photosynthesis in organs of these species to contribute to their carbon economy is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena V Voznesenskaya
- Laboratory of Anatomy and Morphology, Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, Russia
| | - Nuria K Koteyeva
- Laboratory of Anatomy and Morphology, Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, Russia
| | - Asaph Cousins
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4236, USA
| | - Gerald E Edwards
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4236, USA
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Muhaidat R, Brake MH, Al Zoubi M, Colautti RI, Al-Nasser A, Awawdeh M, Al-Batayneh K, Al Khateeb W, McKown AD, Lahham J, El-Oqlah A. Integrating morphological characters, molecular markers, and distribution patterns to assess the identity of Blepharis species from Jordan. BOTANICAL STUDIES 2018; 59:18. [PMID: 30046932 PMCID: PMC6060189 DOI: 10.1186/s40529-018-0234-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Blepharis constitutes an important part of the vegetation of the Jordanian arid and semi-arid regions, yet whether one or more species of this genus occurs in the Jordanian area is uncertain. We addressed this question by assessing morphological characters and testing Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers from three populations of Blepharis: two northern (lower slopes of Kufranjah valley and the Dead Sea region) and one southern (Wadi al Yutm). RESULTS Shoots from randomly chosen Blepharis plants were harvested from each of the three populations for morphological and molecular analyses. In the northern populations, spikes were lax and bract width was significantly shorter than length of the longest lateral spine compared to the southern population. A multivariate linear discriminant analysis distinguished the northern populations from the southern one by internode length, bract width, longest lateral spine length, and bract width to spine length ratio. The ISSR analysis revealed that 44 markers across eight primers were polymorphic with major allele frequency of 83.6% and an average of 5.5 polymorphic markers per primer. The genetic resemblance among individuals ranged from 0.27 to 0.96. The three Blepharis populations were accordingly clustered into two distinct groups, similar to the analysis of morphological differences and corresponding with the "northern" and "southern" population designations. CONCLUSIONS Our results strongly indicate the occurrence of two discrete Blepharis species in Jordan and reject the hypothesis that the genus is represented by only one species. We propose that the Blepharis species in Jordan are B. attenutata Napper (represented by the northern populations) and B. ciliaris (L.) B. L. Burtt (represented by the southern population). These findings are important for informing and revising floristic work within the region and an updated key has been included in our findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riyadh Muhaidat
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, P. O. Box 21163, Irbid, Jordan
| | - Mohammad H. Brake
- Science Department, Faculty of Science, Jerash University, Jerash, Jordan
| | - Mazhar Al Zoubi
- Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Yarmouk University, P. O. Box 21163, Irbid, Jordan
| | - Robert I. Colautti
- Department of Biology, Queen’s University, 116 Barrie Street, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Canada
| | - Amjad Al-Nasser
- Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, P. O. Box 21163, Irbid, Jordan
| | - Muheeb Awawdeh
- Department of Environmental and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, P. O. Box 21163, Irbid, Jordan
| | - Khalid Al-Batayneh
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, P. O. Box 21163, Irbid, Jordan
| | - Wesam Al Khateeb
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, P. O. Box 21163, Irbid, Jordan
| | - Athena D. McKown
- Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Forest Sciences Centre, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 Canada
| | - Jamil Lahham
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, P. O. Box 21163, Irbid, Jordan
| | - Ahmad El-Oqlah
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, P. O. Box 21163, Irbid, Jordan
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Muhaidat R, McKown AD, Al Zoubi M, Bani Domi Z, Otoum O. C 4 photosynthesis and transition of Kranz anatomy in cotyledons and leaves of Tetraena simplex. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2018; 105:822-835. [PMID: 29791720 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.1087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 02/22/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE OF THE STUDY Tetraena simplex is an independently evolved C4 species in the Zygophylloideae (Zygophyllaceae) and a characteristic forb of saline flats in hot and sandy desert habitats. During early ontogeny, the species had a morphological shift from planar cotyledons (dorsiventral symmetry) to terete, succulent leaves (radial symmetry). We tested whether this shift had a corresponding change in internal Kranz anatomy and tissue patterning. METHODS For a comprehensive characterization of C4 photosynthesis across early ontogeny in T. simplex, structural and ultrastructural anatomical properties and localization patterns, activities, and immunoblotting of key C4 photosynthetic enzymes were compared in mesophyll and bundle sheath tissues in cotyledons and leaves. KEY RESULTS Cotyledons and leaves possessed different types of Kranz anatomy (atriplicoid type and a "Tetraena" variant of the kochioid type, respectively), reflecting the change in leaf morphology. In bundle sheath cells, key differences in ultrastructural features included increased organelle numbers and chloroplast thylakoid stacking. C4 enzymes had strict tissue-specific localization patterns within bundle sheath and mesophyll cells in both cotyledons and leaves. The decarboxylase NAD-ME maintained the highest activity, increasing from cotyledons to leaves. This classified T. simplex as fully C4 across ontogeny and a strictly NAD-ME biochemical subtype. CONCLUSIONS Tetraena simplex cotyledons and leaves showed differences in Kranz type, with associated progression in ultrastructural features, and differing activities/expression levels of C4 enzymes. Furthermore, leaves characterized a new "Tetraena" variation of the kochioid Kranz anatomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riyadh Muhaidat
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, Irbid, P. O. Box 21163, Jordan
| | - Athena D McKown
- Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Forest Sciences Centre, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Mazhar Al Zoubi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, Irbid, P. O. Box 21163, Jordan
- Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Yarmouk University, Irbid, P. O. Box 21163, Jordan
| | - Zakariya Bani Domi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, Irbid, P. O. Box 21163, Jordan
| | - Osama Otoum
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, Irbid, P. O. Box 21163, Jordan
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Oguchi R, Onoda Y, Terashima I, Tholen D. Leaf Anatomy and Function. THE LEAF: A PLATFORM FOR PERFORMING PHOTOSYNTHESIS 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-93594-2_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
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25
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Stata M, Sage TL, Hoffmann N, Covshoff S, Ka-Shu Wong G, Sage RF. Mesophyll Chloroplast Investment in C3, C4 and C2 Species of the Genus Flaveria. PLANT & CELL PHYSIOLOGY 2016; 57:904-918. [PMID: 26985020 DOI: 10.1093/pcp/pcw015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2015] [Accepted: 01/07/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The mesophyll (M) cells of C4 plants contain fewer chloroplasts than observed in related C3 plants; however, it is uncertain where along the evolutionary transition from C3 to C4 that the reduction in M chloroplast number occurs. Using 18 species in the genus Flaveria, which contains C3, C4 and a range of C3-C4 intermediate species, we examined changes in chloroplast number and size per M cell, and positioning of chloroplasts relative to the M cell periphery. Chloroplast number and coverage of the M cell periphery declined in proportion to increasing strength of C4 metabolism in Flaveria, while chloroplast size increased with increasing C4 cycle strength. These changes increase cytosolic exposure to the cell periphery which could enhance diffusion of inorganic carbon to phosphenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), a cytosolic enzyme. Analysis of the transcriptome from juvenile leaves of nine Flaveria species showed that the transcript abundance of four genes involved in plastid biogenesis-FtsZ1, FtsZ2, DRP5B and PARC6-was negatively correlated with variation in C4 cycle strength and positively correlated with M chloroplast number per planar cell area. Chloroplast size was negatively correlated with abundance of FtsZ1, FtsZ2 and PARC6 transcripts. These results indicate that natural selection targeted the proteins of the contractile ring assembly to effect the reduction in chloroplast numbers in the M cells of C4 Flaveria species. If so, efforts to engineer the C4 pathway into C3 plants might evaluate whether inducing transcriptome changes similar to those observed in Flaveria could reduce M chloroplast numbers, and thus introduce a trait that appears essential for efficient C4 function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matt Stata
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON M5S3B2 Canada
| | - Tammy L Sage
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON M5S3B2 Canada
| | - Natalie Hoffmann
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON M5S3B2 Canada
| | - Sarah Covshoff
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK
| | - Gane Ka-Shu Wong
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, T6G 2E9, Canada Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, T6G 2E1, Canada BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zone, Yantian District, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Rowan F Sage
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON M5S3B2 Canada
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Ludwig M. The Roles of Organic Acids in C4 Photosynthesis. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2016; 7:647. [PMID: 27242848 PMCID: PMC4868847 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2016.00647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2016] [Accepted: 04/27/2016] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Organic acids are involved in numerous metabolic pathways in all plants. The finding that some plants, known as C4 plants, have four-carbon dicarboxylic acids as the first product of carbon fixation showed these organic acids play essential roles as photosynthetic intermediates. Oxaloacetate (OAA), malate, and aspartate (Asp) are substrates for the C4 acid cycle that underpins the CO2 concentrating mechanism of C4 photosynthesis. In this cycle, OAA is the immediate, short-lived, product of the initial CO2 fixation step in C4 leaf mesophyll cells. The malate and Asp, resulting from the rapid conversion of OAA, are the organic acids delivered to the sites of carbon reduction in the bundle-sheath cells of the leaf, where they are decarboxylated, with the released CO2 used to make carbohydrates. The three-carbon organic acids resulting from the decarboxylation reactions are returned to the mesophyll cells where they are used to regenerate the CO2 acceptor pool. NADP-malic enzyme-type, NAD-malic enzyme-type, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase-type C4 plants were identified, based on the most abundant decarboxylating enzyme in the leaf tissue. The genes encoding these C4 pathway-associated decarboxylases were co-opted from ancestral C3 plant genes during the evolution of C4 photosynthesis. Malate was recognized as the major organic acid transferred in NADP-malic enzyme-type C4 species, while Asp fills this role in NAD-malic enzyme-type and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase-type plants. However, accumulating evidence indicates that many C4 plants use a combination of organic acids and decarboxylases during CO2 fixation, and the C4-type categories are not rigid. The ability to transfer multiple organic acid species and utilize different decarboxylases has been suggested to give C4 plants advantages in changing and stressful environments, as well as during development, by facilitating the balance of energy between the two cell types involved in the C4 pathway of CO2 assimilation. The results of recent empirical and modeling studies support this suggestion and indicate that a combination of transferred organic acids and decarboxylases is beneficial to C4 plants in different light environments.
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Wu SD, Lin L, Li HL, Yu SX, Zhang LJ, Wang W. Evolution of Asian Interior Arid-Zone Biota: Evidence from the Diversification of Asian Zygophyllum (Zygophyllaceae). PLoS One 2015; 10:e0138697. [PMID: 26393796 PMCID: PMC4579068 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0138697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2015] [Accepted: 09/02/2015] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The Asian interior arid zone is the largest desert landform system in the Northern Hemisphere, and has high biodiversity. Little is currently known about the evolutionary history of its biota. In this study, we used Zygophyllum, an important and characteristic component of the Asian interior arid zone, to provide new insights into the evolution of this biota. By greatly enlarged taxon sampling, we present the phylogenetic analysis of Asian Zygophyllum based on two plastid and one nuclear markers. Our phylogenetic analyses indicate that Asian Zygophyllum and Sarcozygium form a clade and Sarcozygium is further embedded within the shrub subclade. An integration of phylogenetic, biogeographic, and molecular dating methods indicates that Zygophyllum successfully colonized the Asian interior from Africa in the early Oligocene, and Asian Zygophyllum became differentiated in the early Miocene and underwent a burst of diversification in the late Miocene associated with the expansion of Asian interior arid lands due to orogenetic and climatic changes. Combining diversification patterns of other important components of the Asian interior arid zone, we propose a multi-stage evolution model for this biota: the late Eocene-early Oligocene origin, the early Miocene expansion, and the middle-late Miocene rapid expansion to the whole Asian interior arid zone. This study also demonstrates that, for Zygophyllum and perhaps other arid-adapted organisms, arid biomes are evolutionary cradles of diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng-Dan Wu
- College of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen, China
- State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Li Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hong-Lei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Southern Subtropical Plant Diversity, Fairylake Botanical Garden, Shenzhen & Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Sheng-Xiang Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lin-Jing Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen, China
| | - Wei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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28
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Koteyeva NK, Voznesenskaya EV, Edwards GE. An assessment of the capacity for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase to contribute to C4 photosynthesis. PLANT SCIENCE : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PLANT BIOLOGY 2015; 235:70-80. [PMID: 25900567 DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2015.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2014] [Revised: 01/29/2015] [Accepted: 03/04/2015] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Three C4 acid decarboxylases, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME), and NAD-malic enzyme (NAD-ME) were recruited from C3 plants to support C4 photosynthesis. In Poaceae, there are established lineages having PEPCK type species, and some NADP-ME lineages in which PEPCK contributes to C4. Besides family Poaceae, recently PEPCK has been reported to function in C4 photosynthesis in eudicot species including Cleome gynandra (Cleomaceae), Trianthema portulacastrum and Zaleya pentandra (Aizoaceae). We evaluated PEPCK by enzyme assay and western blots in representatives of Poaceae, Aizoaceae, Cleomaceae, and Chenopodiaceae compared to that in the PEPCK type C4 grass Spartina anglica. Eragrostis nutans was identified as the first NAD-ME type C4 grass having substantial amounts of PEPCK. In the eudicots, including C. gynandra, Cleome angustifolia, T. portulacastrum, Z. pentandra, and nine C4 members of family Chenopodiaceae (which has the most C4 species and diversity in forms among eudicot families), amounts of PEPCK were generally very low (barely detectable up to 4% of that in S. anglica). Based on these results, C4 species can be classified biochemically according to the dominant decarboxylase recruited for C4 function; and, Poaceae remains the only family in which PEPCK is known to have a significant role in C4 photosynthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuria K Koteyeva
- Laboratory of Anatomy and Morphology, V. L. Komarov Botanical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Popov Street 2, 197376 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Elena V Voznesenskaya
- Laboratory of Anatomy and Morphology, V. L. Komarov Botanical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Popov Street 2, 197376 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Gerald E Edwards
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4236, USA.
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Burgess SJ, Hibberd JM. Insights into C4 metabolism from comparative deep sequencing. CURRENT OPINION IN PLANT BIOLOGY 2015; 25:138-144. [PMID: 26051034 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2015.05.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2014] [Revised: 05/06/2015] [Accepted: 05/16/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
C4 photosynthesis suppresses the oxygenation activity of Ribulose Bisphosphate Carboxylase Oxygenase and so limits photorespiration. Although highly complex, it is estimated to have evolved in 66 plant lineages, with the vast majority lacking sequenced genomes. Transcriptomics has recently initiated assessments of the degree to which transcript abundance differs between C3 and C4 leaves, identified novel components of C4 metabolism, and also led to mathematical models explaining the repeated evolution of this complex phenotype. Evidence is accumulating that this complex and convergent phenotype is partly underpinned by parallel evolution of structural genes, but also regulatory elements in both cis and trans. Furthermore, it appears that initial events associated with acquisition of C4 traits likely represent evolutionary exaptations related to non-photosynthetic processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven J Burgess
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK
| | - Julian M Hibberd
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK.
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Martins S, Scatena VL. Anatomical variations in scapes of Eleocharis minima Kunth (Cyperaceae, Poales) - amphibian and Kranz species. RODRIGUÉSIA 2015. [DOI: 10.1590/2175-7860201566225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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31
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Lobo AKM, de Oliveira Martins M, Lima Neto MC, Machado EC, Ribeiro RV, Silveira JAG. Exogenous sucrose supply changes sugar metabolism and reduces photosynthesis of sugarcane through the down-regulation of Rubisco abundance and activity. JOURNAL OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2015; 179:113-21. [PMID: 25863283 DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2015.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2014] [Revised: 02/19/2015] [Accepted: 03/21/2015] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Photosynthetic modulation by sugars has been known for many years, but the biochemical and molecular comprehension of this process is lacking. We studied how the exogenous sucrose supplied to leaves could affect sugar metabolism in leaf, sheath and stalk and inhibit photosynthesis in four-month old sugarcane plants. Exogenous sucrose 50mM sprayed on attached leaves strongly impaired the net CO2 assimilation (PN) and decreased the instantaneous carboxylation efficiency (PN/Ci), suggesting that the impairment in photosynthesis was caused by biochemical restrictions. The photosystem II activity was also affected by excess sucrose as indicated by the reduction in the apparent electron transport rate, effective quantum yield and increase in non-photochemical quenching. In leaf segments, sucrose accumulation was related to increases in the activities of soluble acid and neutral invertases, sucrose synthase and sucrose phosphate synthase, whereas the contents of fructose increased and glucose slightly decreased. Changes in the activities of sucrose hydrolyzing and synthesizing enzymes in leaf, sheath and stalk and sugar profile in intact plants were not enough to identify which sugar(s) or enzyme(s) were directly involved in photosynthesis modulation. However, exogenous sucrose was able to trigger down-regulation in the Rubisco abundance, activation state and enzymatic activity. Despite the fact that PN/Ci had been notably decreased by sucrose, in vitro activity and abundance of PEPCase did not change, suggesting an in vivo modulation of this enzyme. The data reveal that sucrose and/or other derivative sugars in leaves inhibited sugarcane photosynthesis by down-regulation of Rubisco synthesis and activity. Our data also suggest that sugar modulation was not exerted by a feedback mechanism induced by the accumulation of sugars in immature sugarcane stalk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Karla Moreira Lobo
- Laboratório de Metabolismo de Plantas, Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Avenida Humberto Monte, S/N, CP 6004, CEP 60440-970 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
| | - Marcio de Oliveira Martins
- Laboratório de Metabolismo de Plantas, Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Avenida Humberto Monte, S/N, CP 6004, CEP 60440-970 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
| | - Milton Costa Lima Neto
- Laboratório de Metabolismo de Plantas, Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Avenida Humberto Monte, S/N, CP 6004, CEP 60440-970 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Caruso Machado
- Laboratório de Fisiologia Vegetal "Coaracy M. Franco", Centro de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento de Ecofisiologia e Biofísica, Instituto Agronômico (IAC), Avenida Barão de Itapura, 1481, CP 28, CEP 13012-970 Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rafael Vasconcelos Ribeiro
- Department of Plant Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Rua Monteiro Lobato, 255, CEP 13083-862 Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Joaquim Albenisio Gomes Silveira
- Laboratório de Metabolismo de Plantas, Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Avenida Humberto Monte, S/N, CP 6004, CEP 60440-970 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
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Christin PA, Arakaki M, Osborne CP, Edwards EJ. Genetic Enablers Underlying the Clustered Evolutionary Origins of C4 Photosynthesis in Angiosperms. Mol Biol Evol 2015; 32:846-58. [DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msu410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Sage RF, Stata M. Photosynthetic diversity meets biodiversity: the C4 plant example. JOURNAL OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2015; 172:104-19. [PMID: 25264020 DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2014.07.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2014] [Revised: 07/02/2014] [Accepted: 07/02/2014] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Physiological diversification reflects adaptation for specific environmental challenges. As the major physiological process that provides plants with carbon and energy, photosynthesis is under strong evolutionary selection that gives rise to variability in nearly all parts of the photosynthetic apparatus. Here, we discuss how plants, notably those using C4 photosynthesis, diversified in response to environmental challenges imposed by declining atmospheric CO2 content in recent geological time. This reduction in atmospheric CO2 increases the rate of photorespiration and reduces photosynthetic efficiency. While plants have evolved numerous mechanisms to compensate for low CO2, the most effective are the carbon concentration mechanisms of C4, C2, and CAM photosynthesis; and the pumping of dissolved inorganic carbon, mainly by algae. C4 photosynthesis enables plants to dominate warm, dry and often salinized habitats, and to colonize areas that are too stressful for most plant groups. Because C4 lineages generally lack arborescence, they cannot form forests. Hence, where they predominate, C4 plants create a different landscape than would occur if C3 plants were to predominate. These landscapes (mostly grasslands and savannahs) present unique selection environments that promoted the diversification of animal guilds able to graze upon the C4 vegetation. Thus, the rise of C4 photosynthesis has made a significant contribution to the origin of numerous biomes in the modern biosphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rowan F Sage
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S3B2.
| | - Matt Stata
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S3B2
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Stata M, Sage TL, Rennie TD, Khoshravesh R, Sultmanis S, Khaikin Y, Ludwig M, Sage RF. Mesophyll cells of C4 plants have fewer chloroplasts than those of closely related C3 plants. PLANT, CELL & ENVIRONMENT 2014; 37:2587-2600. [PMID: 24689501 DOI: 10.1111/pce.12331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2013] [Revised: 03/03/2014] [Accepted: 03/17/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
The evolution of C(4) photosynthesis from C(3) ancestors eliminates ribulose bisphosphate carboxylation in the mesophyll (M) cell chloroplast while activating phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylation in the cytosol. These changes may lead to fewer chloroplasts and different chloroplast positioning within M cells. To evaluate these possibilities, we compared chloroplast number, size and position in M cells of closely related C(3), C(3) -C(4) intermediate and C(4) species from 12 lineages of C(4) evolution. All C(3) species had more chloroplasts per M cell area than their C(4) relatives in high-light growth conditions. C(3) species also had higher chloroplast coverage of the M cell periphery than C(4) species, particularly opposite intercellular air spaces. In M cells from 10 of the 12 C(4) lineages, a greater fraction of the chloroplast envelope was pulled away from the plasmalemma in the C(4) species than their C(3) relatives. C(3) -C(4) intermediate species generally exhibited similar patterns as their C(3) relatives. We interpret these results to reflect adaptive shifts that facilitate efficient C(4) function by enhancing diffusive access to the site of primary carbon fixation in the cytosol. Fewer chloroplasts in C(4) M cells would also reduce shading of the bundle sheath chloroplasts, which also generate energy required by C(4) photosynthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matt Stata
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 3B2
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Sage RF, Khoshravesh R, Sage TL. From proto-Kranz to C4 Kranz: building the bridge to C4 photosynthesis. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2014; 65:3341-56. [PMID: 24803502 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/eru180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
In this review, we examine how the specialized "Kranz" anatomy of C4 photosynthesis evolved from C3 ancestors. Kranz anatomy refers to the wreath-like structural traits that compartmentalize the biochemistry of C4 photosynthesis and enables the concentration of CO2 around Rubisco. A simplified version of Kranz anatomy is also present in the species that utilize C2 photosynthesis, where a photorespiratory glycine shuttle concentrates CO2 into an inner bundle-sheath-like compartment surrounding the vascular tissue. C2 Kranz is considered to be an intermediate stage in the evolutionary development of C4 Kranz, based on the intermediate branching position of C2 species in 14 evolutionary lineages of C4 photosynthesis. In the best-supported model of C4 evolution, Kranz anatomy in C2 species evolved from C3 ancestors with enlarged bundle sheath cells and high vein density. Four independent lineages have been identified where C3 sister species of C2 plants exhibit an increase in organelle numbers in the bundle sheath and enlarged bundle sheath cells. Notably, in all of these species, there is a pronounced shift of mitochondria to the inner bundle sheath wall, forming an incipient version of the C2 type of Kranz anatomy. This incipient version of C2 Kranz anatomy is termed proto-Kranz, and is proposed to scavenge photorespiratory CO2. By doing so, it may provide fitness benefits in hot environments, and thus represent a critical first stage of the evolution of both the C2 and C4 forms of Kranz anatomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rowan F Sage
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, On M5S3B2 Canada
| | - Roxana Khoshravesh
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, On M5S3B2 Canada
| | - Tammy L Sage
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, On M5S3B2 Canada
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Lundgren MR, Osborne CP, Christin PA. Deconstructing Kranz anatomy to understand C4 evolution. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2014; 65:3357-69. [PMID: 24799561 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/eru186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
C4 photosynthesis is a complex physiological adaptation that confers greater productivity than the ancestral C3 photosynthetic type in environments where photorespiration is high. It evolved in multiple lineages through the coordination of anatomical and biochemical components, which concentrate CO2 at the active site of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco). In most C4 plants, the CO2-concentrating mechanism is achieved via the confinement of Rubisco to bundle-sheath cells, into which CO2 is biochemically pumped from surrounding mesophyll cells. The C4 biochemical pathway relies on a specific suite of leaf functional properties, often referred to as Kranz anatomy. These include the existence of discrete compartments differentially connected to the atmosphere, a close contact between these compartments, and a relatively large compartment to host the Calvin cycle. In this review, we use a quantitative dataset for grasses (Poaceae) and examples from other groups to isolate the changes in anatomical characteristics that generate these functional properties, including changes in the size, number, and distribution of different cell types. These underlying anatomical characteristics vary among C4 origins, as similar functions emerged via different modifications of anatomical characteristics. In addition, the quantitative characteristics of leaves all vary continuously across C3 and C4 taxa, resulting in C4-like values in some C3 taxa. These observations suggest that the evolution of C4-suitable anatomy might require relatively few changes in plant lineages with anatomical predispositions. Furthermore, the distribution of anatomical traits across C3 and C4 taxa has important implications for the functional diversity observed among C4 lineages and for the approaches used to identify genetic determinants of C4 anatomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marjorie R Lundgren
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - Colin P Osborne
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
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Koteyeva NK, Voznesenskaya EV, Cousins AB, Edwards GE. Differentiation of C4 photosynthesis along a leaf developmental gradient in two Cleome species having different forms of Kranz anatomy. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2014; 65:3525-41. [PMID: 24550438 PMCID: PMC4085953 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/eru042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
In family Cleomaceae there are NAD-malic enzyme-type C4 species having different forms of leaf anatomy. Leaves of Cleome angustifolia have Glossocardioid-type anatomy with a single complex Kranz unit which surrounds all the veins, while C. gynandra has Atriplicoid anatomy with multiple Kranz units, each surrounding an individual vein. Biochemical and ultrastructural differentiation of mesophyll (M) and bundle sheath (BS) cells were studied along a developmental gradient, from the leaf base (youngest) to the tip (mature). Initially, there is cell-specific expression of certain photosynthetic enzymes, which subsequently increase along with structural differentiation. At the base of the leaf, following division of ground tissue to form M and BS cells which are structurally similar, there is selective localization of Rubisco and glycine decarboxylase to BS cells. Thus, a biochemical C3 default stage, with Rubisco expression in both cell types, does not occur. Additionally, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) is selectively expressed in M cells near the base. Surprisingly, in both species, an additional layer of spongy M cells on the abaxial side of the leaf has the same differentiation with PEPC, even though it is not in contact with BS cells. During development along the longitudinal gradient there is structural differentiation of the cells, chloroplasts, and mitochondria, resulting in complete formation of Kranz anatomy. In both species, development of the C4 system occurs similarly, irrespective of having very different types of Kranz anatomy, different ontogenetic origins of BS and M, and independent evolutionary origins of C4 photosynthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuria K Koteyeva
- Laboratory of Anatomy and Morphology, V. L. Komarov Botanical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Popov Street 2, 197376, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Elena V Voznesenskaya
- Laboratory of Anatomy and Morphology, V. L. Komarov Botanical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Popov Street 2, 197376, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Asaph B Cousins
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4236 USA
| | - Gerald E Edwards
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4236 USA
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Aubry S, Kneřová J, Hibberd JM. Endoreduplication is not involved in bundle-sheath formation in the C4 species Cleome gynandra. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2014; 65:3557-66. [PMID: 24220652 PMCID: PMC4085951 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/ert350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
There is currently significant interest in engineering the two-celled C4 photosynthesis pathway into crops such as rice in order to increase yield. This will require alterations to the biochemistry of photosynthesis in both mesophyll (M) and bundle-sheath (BS) cells, but also alterations to leaf anatomy. For example, the BS of C4 species is enlarged compared with that in C3 species. Because cell and nucleus size are often correlated, this study investigated whether nuclear endoreduplication is associated with increased differentiation and expansion of BS cells. Nuclei in the BS of C4 Cleome gynandra were tagged with green fluorescent protein. Confocal laser-scanning microscopy and flow cytometry of isolated nuclei were used to quantify size and DNA content in BS cells. The results showed a significant endoreduplication in BS cells of C. gynandra but not in additional C4 lineages from both the monocotyledonous and dicotyledenous plants. Furthermore, in the C3 species Arabidopsis thaliana, BS cells undergo endoreduplication. Due to this significant endoreduplication in the small BS cells of C3 A. thaliana, it was concluded that endoreduplication of BS nuclei in C4 plants is not linked to expansion and differentiation of BS cells, and therefore that alternative strategies to increase this compartment need to be sought in order to engineer C4 traits into C3 crops such as rice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvain Aubry
- Department of Plant Sciences, Downing Street, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK
| | - Jana Kneřová
- Department of Plant Sciences, Downing Street, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK
| | - Julian M Hibberd
- Department of Plant Sciences, Downing Street, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK
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Wang Y, Bräutigam A, Weber APM, Zhu XG. Three distinct biochemical subtypes of C4 photosynthesis? A modelling analysis. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2014; 65:3567-78. [PMID: 24609651 PMCID: PMC4085956 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/eru058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
C4 photosynthesis has higher light-use, nitrogen-use, and water-use efficiencies than C3 photosynthesis. Historically, most of C4 plants were classified into three subtypes (NADP-malic enzyme (ME), NAD-ME, or phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) subtypes) according to their major decarboxylation enzyme. However, a wealth of historic and recent data indicates that flexibility exists between different decarboxylation pathways in many C4 species, and this flexibility might be controlled by developmental and environmental cues. This work used systems modelling to theoretically explore the significance of flexibility in decarboxylation mechanisms and transfer acids utilization. The results indicate that employing mixed C4 pathways, either the NADP-ME type with the PEPCK type or the NAD-ME type with the PEPCK type, effectively decreases the need to maintain high concentrations and concentration gradients of transport metabolites. Further, maintaining a mixture of C4 pathways robustly affords high photosynthetic efficiency under a broad range of light regimes. A pure PEPCK-type C4 photosynthesis is not beneficial because the energy requirements in bundle sheath cells cannot be fulfilled due to them being shaded by mesophyll cells. Therefore, only two C4 subtypes should be considered as distinct subtypes, the NADP-ME type and NAD-ME types, which both inherently involve a supplementary PEPCK cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Wang
- State Key Laboratory for Hybrid Rice, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
| | - Andrea Bräutigam
- Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich-Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Andreas P M Weber
- Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich-Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Xin-Guang Zhu
- State Key Laboratory for Hybrid Rice, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
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Covshoff S, Burgess SJ, Kneřová J, Kümpers BMC. Getting the most out of natural variation in C4 photosynthesis. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2014; 119:157-167. [PMID: 23794170 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-013-9872-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2012] [Accepted: 06/12/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
C4 photosynthesis is a complex trait that has a high degree of natural variation, involving anatomical and biochemical changes relative to the ancestral C3 state. It has evolved at least 66 times across a variety of lineages and the evolutionary route from C3 to C4 is likely conserved but not necessarily genetically identical. As such, a variety of C4 species are needed to identify what is fundamental to the C4 evolutionary process in a global context. In order to identify the genetic components of C4 form and function, a number of species are used as genetic models. These include Zea mays (maize), Sorghum bicolor (sorghum), Setaria viridis (Setaria), Flaveria bidentis, and Cleome gynandra. Each of these species has different benefits and challenges associated with its use as a model organism. Here, we propose that RNA profiling of a large sampling of C4, C3-C4, and C3 species, from as many lineages as possible, will allow identification of candidate genes necessary and sufficient to confer C4 anatomy and/or biochemistry. Furthermore, C4 model species will play a critical role in the functional characterization of these candidate genes and identification of their regulatory elements, by providing a platform for transformation and through the use of gene expression profiles in mesophyll and bundle sheath cells and along the leaf developmental gradient. Efforts should be made to sequence the genomes of F. bidentis and C. gynandra and to develop congeneric C3 species as genetic models for comparative studies. In combination, such resources would facilitate discovery of common and unique C4 regulatory mechanisms across genera.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Covshoff
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK,
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41
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Ocampo G, Koteyeva NK, Voznesenskaya EV, Edwards GE, Sage TL, Sage RF, Columbus JT. Evolution of leaf anatomy and photosynthetic pathways in Portulacaceae. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2013; 100:2388-2402. [PMID: 24259525 DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1300094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE OF THE STUDY Portulacaceae is a family with a remarkable diversity in photosynthetic pathways. This lineage not only has species with different C4 biochemistry (NADP-ME and NAD-ME types) and C3-C4 intermediacy, but also displays different leaf anatomical configurations. Here we addressed the evolutionary history of leaf anatomy and photosynthetic pathways in Portulacaceae. METHODS Photosynthetic pathways were assessed based on leaf anatomy and carbon isotope ratios. Information on the NADP-ME and NAD-ME C4 variants was obtained from the literature. The evolutionary relationships and trait evolution were estimated under a Bayesian framework, and divergence times were calibrated using the ages obtained in a previous study. KEY RESULTS C4 photosynthesis is the main pathway in Portulacaceae. One clade (Cryptopetala), however, includes species that have non-Kranz anatomy and C3 type isotope values, two of which are C3-C4 intermediates. The ancestral leaf anatomy for the family is uncertain. The analysis showed one origin of the C4 pathway, which was lost in the Cryptopetala clade. Nevertheless, when a second analysis was performed taking into account the limited number of species with NAD-ME and NADP-ME data, a secondary gain of the C4 pathway from a C3-C4 intermediate was inferred. CONCLUSIONS The C4 pathway evolved ca. 23 Myr in the Portulacaceae. The number of times that the pathway evolved in the family is uncertain. The diversity of leaf anatomical types and C4 biochemical variants suggest multiple independent origins of C4 photosynthesis. Evidence for a switch from C4 to C3-C4 intermediacy supports the hypothesis that intermediates represent a distinct successful strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gilberto Ocampo
- Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Claremont Graduate University, 1500 North College Avenue, Claremont, California 91711 USA
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Ludwig M. Evolution of the C4 photosynthetic pathway: events at the cellular and molecular levels. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2013; 117:147-61. [PMID: 23708978 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-013-9853-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2013] [Accepted: 05/14/2013] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The biochemistry and leaf anatomy of plants using C4 photosynthesis promote the concentration of atmospheric CO2 in leaf tissue that leads to improvements in growth and yield of C4 plants over C3 species in hot, dry, high light, and/or saline environments. C4 plants like maize and sugarcane are significant food, fodder, and bioenergy crops. The C4 photosynthetic pathway is an excellent example of convergent evolution, having evolved in multiple independent lineages of land plants from ancestors employing C3 photosynthesis. In addition to C3 and C4 species, some plant lineages contain closely related C3-C4 intermediate species that demonstrate leaf anatomical, biochemical, and physiological characteristics between those of C3 plants and species using C4 photosynthesis. These groups of plants have been extremely useful in dissecting the modifications to leaf anatomy and molecular biology, which led to the evolution of C4 photosynthesis. It is now clear that great variation exists in C4 leaf anatomy, and diverse molecular mechanisms underlie C4 biochemistry and physiology. However, all these different paths have led to the same destination-the expression of a C4 CO2 concentrating mechanism. Further identification of C4 leaf anatomical traits and molecular biological components, and understanding how they are controlled and assembled will not only allow for additional insights into evolutionary convergence, but also contribute to sustainable food and bioenergy production strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martha Ludwig
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia,
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Christin PA, Osborne CP. The recurrent assembly of C4 photosynthesis, an evolutionary tale. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2013; 117:163-75. [PMID: 23703454 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-013-9852-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2013] [Accepted: 05/13/2013] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Today, plants using C4 photosynthesis are widespread and important components of major tropical and subtropical biomes, but the events that led to their evolution and success started billions of years ago (bya). A CO2-fixing enzyme evolved in the early Earth atmosphere with a tendency to confuse CO2 and O2 molecules. The descendants of early photosynthetic organisms coped with this property in the geological eras that followed through successive fixes, the latest of which is the addition of complex CO2-concentrating mechanisms such as C4 photosynthesis. This trait was assembled from bricks available in C3 ancestors, which were altered to fulfill their new role in C4 photosynthesis. The existence of C4-suitable bricks probably determined the lineages of plants that could make the transition to C4 photosynthesis, highlighting the power of contingency in evolution. Based on the latest findings in C4 research, we present the evolutionary tale of C4 photosynthesis, with a focus on the general evolutionary phenomena that it so wonderfully exemplifies.
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Karki S, Rizal G, Quick WP. Improvement of photosynthesis in rice (Oryza sativa L.) by inserting the C4 pathway. RICE (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2013; 6:28. [PMID: 24280149 PMCID: PMC4883725 DOI: 10.1186/1939-8433-6-28] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2013] [Accepted: 09/12/2013] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
To boost food production for a rapidly growing global population, crop yields must significantly increase. One of the avenues being recently explored is the improvement of photosynthetic capacity by installing the C4 photosynthetic pathway into C3 crops like rice to drastically increase their yield. Crops with an enhanced photosynthetic mechanism would better utilize the solar radiation that can be translated into yield. This subsequently will help in producing more grain yield, reduce water loss and increase nitrogen use efficiency especially in hot and dry environments. This review provides a summary of the factors that need to be modified in rice so that the C4 pathway can be introduced successfully. It also discusses the differences between the C3 and C4 photosynthetic pathways in terms of anatomy, biochemistry and genetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanta Karki
- />C4 Rice Center, International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Laguna Philippines
| | - Govinda Rizal
- />C4 Rice Center, International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Laguna Philippines
| | - William Paul Quick
- />C4 Rice Center, International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Laguna Philippines
- />Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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Olsen JT, Caudle KL, Johnson LC, Baer SG, Maricle BR. Environmental and genetic variation in leaf anatomy among populations of Andropogon gerardii (Poaceae) along a precipitation gradient. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2013; 100:1957-1968. [PMID: 24061213 DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1200628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE OF THE STUDY Phenotypes of two Andropogon gerardii subspecies, big bluestem and sand bluestem, vary throughout the prairie ecosystem of North America. This study sought to determine the role of genetics and environment in driving adaptive variation of leaf structure in big bluestem and sand bluestem. • METHODS Four populations of big bluestem and one population of sand bluestem were planted in common gardens at four sites across a precipitation gradient from western Kansas to southern Illinois. Internal leaf structure and trichome density of A. gerardii were examined by light microscopy to separate genetic and environmentally controlled traits. Leaf thickness, midrib thickness, bulliform cells, interveinal distance, vein size, and trichome density were quantified. • KEY RESULTS At all planting sites, sand bluestem and the xeric population of A. gerardii had thicker leaves and fewer bulliform cells compared with mesic populations. Environment and genetic source population were both influential for leaf anatomy. Leaves from plants grown in mesic sites (Carbondale, Illinois and Manhattan, Kansas) had thicker midribs, larger veins, fewer trichomes, and a greater proportion of bulliform cells compared to plants grown in drier sites (Colby and Hays, Kansas). • CONCLUSIONS Water availability has driven adaptive variation in leaf structure in populations of A. gerardii, particularly between sand bluestem and big bluestem. Genetically based differences in leaves of A. gerardii indicate adaptive variation and evolutionary forces differentiating sand bluestem from big bluestem. Environmental responses of A. gerardii leaves suggest an ability to adjust to drought, even in populations adapted to mesic home environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob T Olsen
- Department of Biological Sciences, Fort Hays State University, 600 Park Street, Hays, Kansas 67601, USA
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de Siqueira Ferreira S, Nishiyama MY, Paterson AH, Souza GM. Biofuel and energy crops: high-yield Saccharinae take center stage in the post-genomics era. Genome Biol 2013; 14:210. [PMID: 23805917 PMCID: PMC3707038 DOI: 10.1186/gb-2013-14-6-210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The Saccharinae, especially sugarcane, Miscanthus and sorghum, present remarkable characteristics for bioenergy production. Biotechnology of these plants will be important for a sustainable feedstock supply. Herein, we review knowledge useful for their improvement and synergies gained by their parallel study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Savio de Siqueira Ferreira
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Milton Yutaka Nishiyama
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Andrew H Paterson
- Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Glaucia Mendes Souza
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP, Brazil
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Sack L, Scoffoni C. Leaf venation: structure, function, development, evolution, ecology and applications in the past, present and future. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2013; 198:983-1000. [PMID: 23600478 DOI: 10.1111/nph.12253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 313] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2012] [Accepted: 02/18/2013] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
The design and function of leaf venation are important to plant performance, with key implications for the distribution and productivity of ecosystems, and applications in paleobiology, agriculture and technology. We synthesize classical concepts and the recent literature on a wide range of aspects of leaf venation. We describe 10 major structural features that contribute to multiple key functions, and scale up to leaf and plant performance. We describe the development and plasticity of leaf venation and its adaptation across environments globally, and a new global data compilation indicating trends relating vein length per unit area to climate, growth form and habitat worldwide. We synthesize the evolution of vein traits in the major plant lineages throughout paleohistory, highlighting the multiple origins of individual traits. We summarize the strikingly diverse current applications of leaf vein research in multiple fields of science and industry. A unified core understanding will enable an increasing range of plant biologists to incorporate leaf venation into their research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lawren Sack
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of California Los Angeles, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Christine Scoffoni
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of California Los Angeles, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
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Muhaidat R, McKown AD. Significant involvement of PEP-CK in carbon assimilation of C4 eudicots. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2013; 111:577-89. [PMID: 23388881 PMCID: PMC3605952 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mct017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2012] [Accepted: 12/17/2012] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS C4 eudicot species are classified into biochemical sub-types of C4 photosynthesis based on the principal decarboxylating enzyme. Two sub-types are known, NADP-malic enzyme (ME) and NAD-ME; however, evidence for the occurrence or involvement of the third sub-type (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase; PEP-CK) is emerging. In this study, the presence and activity of PEP-CK in C4 eudicot species of Trianthema and Zaleya (Sesuvioideae, Aizoaceae) is clarified through analysis of key anatomical features and C4 photosynthetic enzymes. METHODS Three C4 species (T. portulacastrum, T. sheilae and Z. pentandra) were examined with light and transmission electron microscopy for leaf structural properties. Activities and immunolocalizations of C4 enzymes were measured for biochemical characteristics. KEY RESULTS Leaves of each species possess atriplicoid-type Kranz anatomy, but differ in ultrastructural features. Bundle sheath organelles are centripetal in T. portulacastrum and Z. pentandra, and centrifugal in T. sheilae. Bundle sheath chloroplasts in T. portulacastrum are almost agranal, whereas mesophyll counterparts have grana. Both T. sheilae and Z. pentandra are similar, where bundle sheath chloroplasts contain well-developed grana while mesophyll chloroplasts are grana deficient. Cell wall thickness is significantly greater in T. sheilae than in the other species. Biochemically, T. portulacastrum is NADP-ME, while T. sheilae and Z. pentandra are NAD-ME. Both T. portulacastrum and Z. pentandra exhibit considerable PEP-CK activity, and immunolocalization studies show dense and specific compartmentation of PEP-CK in these species, consistent with high PEP-CK enzyme activity. CONCLUSIONS Involvement of PEP-CK in C4 NADP-ME T. portulacastrum and NAD-ME Z. petandra occurs irrespective of biochemical sub-type, or the position of bundle sheath chloroplasts. Ultrastructural traits, including numbers of bundle sheath peroxisomes and mesophyll chloroplasts, and degree of grana development in bundle sheath chloroplasts, coincide more directly with PEP-CK recruitment. Discovery of high PEP-CK activity in C4 Sesuvioideae species offers a unique opportunity for evaluating PEP-CK expression and suggests the possibility that PEP-CK recruitment may exist elsewhere in C4 eudicots.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riyadh Muhaidat
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yarmouk University, Irbid, PO 21163, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
| | - Athena D. McKown
- Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Forest Sciences Centre, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
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Leegood RC. Strategies for engineering C(4) photosynthesis. JOURNAL OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2013; 170:378-388. [PMID: 23245935 DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2012.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2012] [Revised: 10/30/2012] [Accepted: 10/30/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
C(3) photosynthesis is an inefficient process, because the enzyme that lies at the heart of the Benson-Calvin cycle, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (Rubisco) is itself a very inefficient enzyme. The oxygenase activity of Rubisco is an unavoidable side reaction that is a consequence of its reaction mechanism. The product of oxygenation, glycollate 2-P, has to be retrieved by photorespiration, a process which results in the loss of a quarter of the carbon that was originally present in glycollate 2-P. Photorespiration therefore reduces carbon gain. Purely in terms of carbon economy, there is, therefore, a strong selection pressure on plants to reduce the rate of photorespiration so as to increase carbon gain, but it also improves water- and nitrogen-use efficiency. Possibilities for the manipulation of plants to decrease the amount of photorespiration include the introduction of improved Rubisco from other species, reconfiguring photorespiration, or introducing carbon-concentrating mechanisms, such as inorganic carbon transporters, carboxysomes or pyrenoids, or engineering a full C(4) Kranz pathway using the existing evolutionary progression in C(3)-C(4) intermediates as a blueprint. Possible routes and progress to suppressing photorespiration by introducing C(4) photosynthesis in C(3) crop plants will be discussed, including whether single cell C(4) photosynthesis is feasible, how the evolution of C(3)-C(4) intermediates can be used as a blueprint for engineering C(4) photosynthesis, which pathway for the C(4) cycle might be introduced and the extent to which processes and structures in C(3) plant might require optimisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard C Leegood
- Robert Hill Institute and Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
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