Photosynthetic pigments, photosynthesis and plastid ultrastructure in RbcS antisense DNA mutants of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)

RbcS antisense DNA mutants of tobacco have reduced amounts of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (Rubisco). We found that carotenoid and chlorophyll contents decrease in parallel as Rubisco is decreased, however, pigment levels are not significantly altered until Rubisco levels are reduced sharply. The mutants have normal Chl a/Chl b ratios and normal plastid ultrastructures, suggesting that reductions in Rubisco do not dramatically alter the composition of the thylakoid membranes. Nevertheless, chlorophyll fluorescence measurements, in which developmentally homogenous leaves were sampled, showed that there is reduced photosynthetic capacity of PSII and an enhanced photosensitivity in the mutants, especially in transgenics with severe reductions in Rubisco content. Support for this conclusion comes from several observations: 1) light saturation occurs at a lower light intensity in the mutants, resulting in an earlier closure of PS II (lower photochemical quenching); 2) the mutants have reduced photosynthetic efficiency (lower deltaF/Fm'); and 3) the mutants have a slower recovery of Fv/Fm. We found that acclimation to increasing light intensies in the mutants appears to involve an enhanced inactivation of PSII reaction centers as well as an increased activation of photoprotective mechanisms, notably an engagement of the xanthophyll cycle at lower than normal light intensities. We conclude that the photosensitivity of the antisense mutants is due, in part, to a limitation in Rubisco activation state.

Pathways of plastid-to-nucleus signaling

Several plastid signals have been identified that regulate the transcription of nuclear genes for plastid and non-plastid proteins. These signals are related to the photosynthetic metabolism of chloroplasts and include porphyrins, reactive oxygen intermediates and carotenoids. The metabolic and developmental state of the chloroplast also control cell differentiation and leaf morphogenesis, but the signaling pathways have not been characterized. Plastid-to-nucleus and light-signaling pathways are separable in some but not all cases. Retrograde signaling thus plays a central role in coordinating gene expression in the nucleus, plastid and mitochondrion, and in integrating pathways of cellular metabolism and development.

Mutations in the Arabidopsis VAR2 locus cause leaf variegation due to the loss of a chloroplast FtsH protease

Variegated plants have green- and white-sectored leaves. Cells in the green sectors contain morphologically normal chloroplasts, whereas cells in the white sectors contain non-pigmented plastids that lack organized lamellar structures. Many variegations are caused by mutations in nuclear genes that affect plastid function, yet in only a few cases have the responsible genes been cloned. We show that mutations in the nuclear VAR2 locus of Arabidopsis cause variegation due to loss of a chloroplast thylakoid membrane protein that bears similarity to the FtsH family of AAA proteins (ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities). Escherichia coli FtsH is a chaperone metalloprotease that functions in a number of diverse membrane-associated events. Although FtsH homologs have been identified in multicellular organisms, their functions and activities are largely unknown; we provide genetic in vivo evidence that VAR2 functions in thylakoid membrane biogenesis. We have isolated four var2 alleles and they have allowed us to define domains of the protein that are required for activity. These include two putative ATP-binding sites. VAR2 protein amounts generally correlate with the severity of the var2 mutant phenotype. One allele lacks detectable VAR2 protein, suggesting that the mechanism of var2 variegation involves the action of a redundant activity in the green sectors. We conclude that redundant activities may be a general mechanism to explain nuclear gene-induced plant variegations.

Carbohydrate regulation of leaf development: Prolongation of leaf senescence in Rubisco antisense mutants of tobacco

Previous investigations have shown that increased source strength as a result of elevated CO(2) can alter the timing of the phases of change that occur in photosynthetic rates during dicot leaf ontogeny [Miller et al. (1997) Plant Physiol 115: 1195-1200]. To evaluate the converse situation of decreased source strength, we examined leaf development in rbcS antisense mutants of tobacco. These mutants have depressed Rubisco levels and decreased rates of carbohydrate production. We found that antisense leaves are longer-lived than wild type leaves and that this appeared to be due to a prolongation of the senescence phase of development, as monitored by photosynthetic rates, chlorophyll content, and the abundance and activity of Rubisco. Declines in these parameters during leaf ontogeny in both the wild type and mutant plants were generally accompanied by coordinate reductions in the levels of rbcS mRNA and rbcL mRNA, as well as by reductions in chloroplast rRNA, chloroplast DNA and total protein. We suggest that the prolongation of senescence in the antisense leaves is due to an impact of source strength on leaf developmental programming that occurs, at least in part, at the level of transcript abundance of nuclear and chloroplast genes for chloroplast rRNAs and proteins. We hypothesize that plants are capable of sensing a range of source strength conditions to initiate and modulate leaf developmental programming.

The IMMUTANS variegation locus of Arabidopsis defines a mitochondrial alternative oxidase homolog that functions during early chloroplast biogenesis

Nuclear gene-induced variegation mutants provide a powerful system to dissect interactions between the genetic systems of the nucleus-cytoplasm, the chloroplast, and the mitochondrion. The immutans (im) variegation mutation of Arabidopsis is nuclear and recessive and results in the production of green- and white-sectored leaves. The green sectors contain cells with normal chloroplasts, whereas the white sectors are heteroplastidic and contain cells with abnormal, pigment-deficient plastids as well as some normal chloroplasts. White sector formation can be promoted by enhanced light intensities, but sectoring becomes irreversible early in leaf development. The white sectors accumulate the carotenoid precursor phytoene. We have positionally cloned IM and found that the gene encodes a 40.5-kD protein with sequence motifs characteristic of alternative oxidase, a mitochondrial protein that functions as a terminal oxidase in the respiratory chains of all plants. However, phylogenetic analyses revealed that the IM protein is only distantly related to these other alternative oxidases, suggesting that IM is a novel member of this protein class. We sequenced three alleles of im, and all are predicted to be null. Our data suggest a model of variegation in which the IM protein functions early in chloroplast biogenesis as a component of a redox chain responsible for phytoene desaturation but that a redundant electron transfer function is capable of compensating for IM activity in some plastids and cells.

The IMMUTANS variegation locus of Arabidopsis defines a mitochondrial alternative oxidase homolog that functions during early chloroplast biogenesis

Nuclear gene-induced variegation mutants provide a powerful system to dissect interactions between the genetic systems of the nucleus-cytoplasm, the chloroplast, and the mitochondrion. The immutans (im) variegation mutation of Arabidopsis is nuclear and recessive and results in the production of green- and white-sectored leaves. The green sectors contain cells with normal chloroplasts, whereas the white sectors are heteroplastidic and contain cells with abnormal, pigment-deficient plastids as well as some normal chloroplasts. White sector formation can be promoted by enhanced light intensities, but sectoring becomes irreversible early in leaf development. The white sectors accumulate the carotenoid precursor phytoene. We have positionally cloned IM and found that the gene encodes a 40.5-kD protein with sequence motifs characteristic of alternative oxidase, a mitochondrial protein that functions as a terminal oxidase in the respiratory chains of all plants. However, phylogenetic analyses revealed that the IM protein is only distantly related to these other alternative oxidases, suggesting that IM is a novel member of this protein class. We sequenced three alleles of im, and all are predicted to be null. Our data suggest a model of variegation in which the IM protein functions early in chloroplast biogenesis as a component of a redox chain responsible for phytoene desaturation but that a redundant electron transfer function is capable of compensating for IM activity in some plastids and cells.

The yellow variegated mutant of Arabidopsis is plastid autonomous and delayed in chloroplast biogenesis

The yellow variegated mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana is characterized by bright-yellow true leaves that turn green- and white-sectored as leaf development proceeds. Variegation is due to the action of a nuclear recessive gene. Whereas cells in the green sectors contain morphologically normal chloroplasts, cells in the yellow and white sectors are heteroplastidic and contain plastids with rudimentary lamellar structures, as well as some normal-appearing chloroplasts. This indicates that plastids in yellow variegated are affected differently by the nuclear mutation (the mutant is "plastid autonomous"). Genetic analyses have revealed that yellow variegated is an allele of the var2 locus, and that defective plastids are not maternally inherited. The traits of plastid autonomy and lack of maternal inheritance of the plastid defect set var2 apart from other nuclear gene-induced variegations and define a novel class of variegation mutant. The primary lesion in var2 probably does not involve a blockage in the pathways of pigment biosynthesis. Under high temperatures or low light conditions, plant growth is retarded and mutant plants are nearly all-green. Considered together, our data suggest that var2 is delayed in chloroplast biogenesis. We suggest that the stochastic pattern of variegation in the mutant may be due to an interplay of factors that regulate var2 gene expression and factors that mediate rates of cell and plastid division. Plastids with a critical threshold of the partially functional var2 protein are green, while plastids containing less than the threshold of var2 activity are white.

Elevated CO2 Effects during Leaf Ontogeny (A New Perspective on Acclimation)

For many plants growth in elevated CO2 leads to reduced rates of photosynthesis. To examine the role that leaf ontogeny plays in the acclimation response, we monitored photosynthesis and some related parameters at short intervals throughout the ontogenetic development of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) leaves under ambient (350 [mu]L L-1)- and high (950 [mu]L L-1)-CO2 conditions. The pattern of photosynthetic rate over time was similar between the two treatments and consistent with the expected pattern for a typical dicot leaf. However, the photosynthesis pattern in high-CO2-grown tobacco was shifted temporally to an earlier maximum and subsequent senescent decline. Ribulose-1,5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase activity appeared to be the main factor regulating photosynthetic rates in both treatments. Therefore, we propose a new model for interpreting the acclimation response. Lowered photosynthetic rates observed during acclimation appear to be the result of a shift in the timing of the normal photosynthetic stages of leaf ontogeny to an earlier onset of the natural decline in photosynthetic rates associated with senescence.

Source Strength Regulates an Early Phase Transition of Tobacco Shoot Morphogenesis

We have taken advantage of specific reductions in the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase concentration in rbcS antisense mutants of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) to assess the contribution of source strength (carbohydrate production) to the control of shoot development. Wild-type and antisense plants undergo distinct phases of shoot development that can be distinguished from one another on the basis of differences in stem elongation rates, internode distances, plastochron indices, leaf sizes, and leaf morphologies. An early phase of shoot morphogenesis is markedly prolonged in the antisense plants, and an increased number of leaves emerge during this phase in the mutants. This delay is specific, inasmuch as the duration and expression of traits characteristic of later phases of shoot development proceed normally. In addition to altered shoot developmental patterns, the antisense mutants have enhanced shoot/root ratios and markedly increased leaf longevities. It is likely that these are adaptations that enhance photosynthetic rates. Consistent with this proposal, the total leaf areas and dry weights of the mutant and wild type are similar at flowering. Collectively, our results indicate that source strength regulates the duration of an early phase of tobacco shoot development and the transition to a later phase. We suggest that this phase change may occur in response to the attainment of a threshold source strength, which is delayed in the mutant plants.

Lhcb Transcription Is Coordinated with Cell Size and Chlorophyll Accumulation (Studies on Fluorescence-Activated, Cell-Sorter-Purified Single Cells from Wild-Type and immutans Arabidopsis thaliana)

To study the mechanisms that integrate pigment and chlorophyll a/b-binding apoprotein biosynthesis during light-harvesting complex II assembly, we have examined [beta]-glucuronidase (GUS) enzyme activities, chlorophyll contents, and cell sizes in fluorescence-activated, cell-sorting-separated single cells from transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana wild-type and immutans variegation mutant plants that express an Lhcb (photosystem II chlorophyll a/b-binding polypeptide gene)/GUS promoter fusion. We found that GUS activities are positively correlated with chlorophyll content and cell size in green cells from the control and immutans plants, indicating that Lhcb gene transcription is coordinated with cell size in this species. Compared with the control plants, however, chlorophyll production is enhanced in the green cells of immutans; this may represent part of a strategy to maximize photosynthesis in the green sectors to compensate for a lack of photosynthesis in the white sectors of the mutant. Lhcb transcription is significantly higher in pure-white cells of the transgenic immutans plants than in pure-white cells from norflurazon-treated, photooxidized A. thaliana leaves. This suggests that immutans partially uncouples Lhcb transcription from its normal dependence on chlorophyll accumulation and chloroplast development. We conclude that immutans may play a role in regulating Lhcb transcription, and may be a key component in the signal transduction pathways that control chloroplast biogenesis.

A mechanism for intergenomic integration: abundance of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase small-subunit protein influences the translation of the large-subunit mRNA

Multimeric protein complexes in chloroplasts and mitochondria are generally composed of products of both nuclear and organelle genes of the cell. A central problem of eukaryotic cell biology is to identify and understand the molecular mechanisms for integrating the production and accumulation of the products of the two separate genomes. Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco) is localized in the chloroplasts of photosynthetic eukaryotic cells and is composed of small subunits (SS) and large subunits (LS) coded for by nuclear rbcS and chloroplast rbcL genes, respectively. Transgenic tobacco plants containing antisense rbcS DNA have reduced levels of rbcS mRNA, normal levels of rbcL mRNA, and coordinately reduced LS and SS proteins. Our previous experiments indicated that the rate of translation of rbcL mRNA might be reduced in some antisense plants; direct evidence is presented here. After a short-term pulse there is less labeled LS protein in the transgenic plants than in wild-type plants, indicating that LS accumulation is controlled in the mutants at the translational and/or posttranslational levels. Consistent with a primary restriction at translation, fewer rbcL mRNAs are associated with polysomes of normal size and more are free or are associated with only a few ribosomes in the antisense plants. Effects of the rbcS antisense mutation on mRNA and protein accumulation, as well as on the distribution of mRNAs on polysomes, appear to be minimal for other chloroplast and nuclear photosynthetic genes. Our results suggest that SS protein abundance specifically contributes to the regulation of LS protein accumulation at the level of rbcL translation initiation.

Destabilization of rbcS sense transcripts by antisense RNA

Steady-state rbcS mRNA levels are drastically reduced in transgenic tobacco plants that express rbcS antisense RNAs. We have found that these reductions are not due to an effect of the antisense RNA at the level of rbcS transcription; rather, the sense mRNAs are more actively degraded in the mutant than wild-type plants. We have examined the kinetics of this turnover process by inhibiting transcription with cordycepin, and have found that rbcS sense mRNA decay is accelerated about five-fold in the antisense plants. This provides direct evidence that antisense RNAs can serve to destabilize sense transcripts in plants.