Work

Enhanced drought tolerance and photosynthetic efficiency in Arabidopsis by overexpressing phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from a single-cell C4 halophyte Suaeda aralocaspica

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: In crop genetic improvement, the introduction of C4 plants' characteristics, known for high photosynthetic efficiency and water utilization, into C3 plants has been a significant challenge. This study investigates the effects of the SaPEPC1 gene from a single-cell C4 cycle plant, on drought resistance and photosynthetic performance in Arabidopsis. We used transgenic Arabidopsis with ZmPEPC1 from C4 plant with classic Kranz anatomical structure and AtPEPC1 from C3 photosynthetic cycle plants as controls. The results demonstrated that C4 photosynthetic-type PEPCs could improve drought resistance in plants through stomatal closure, promoting antioxidant enzyme accumulation, and reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Notably, overexpressed SaPEPC1 significantly improved light saturation intensity, electron transport rate (ETR), photosynthetic rate, and photoprotection ability under intense light. Furthermore, it enhanced the activity of key C4 photosynthetic enzymes, including phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK) and NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME), and promoted photosynthetic product sugar accumulation. However, ZmPEPC1 overexpression showed less significant results, with AtPEPC1 overexpression showing no obvious improvement effect on drought and photosynthetic performance. Therefore, these results indicated that introducing C4-type PEPC into C3 plants can significantly enhance drought resistance and photosynthetic performance. However, SaPEPC1 from a single-cell C4 cycle plant exhibits a more significant effect than ZmPEPC1 from a classical C4 anatomical structure plant, although the underlying mechanism requires further exploration.

Source: Frontiers in Plant Science

DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1443691

Authors: Caixia Li, Juan Wang, Haiyan Lan, Qinghui Yu

Institutions: Xinjiang University, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,295