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Overexpression of maize phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase improves drought tolerance in rice by stabilization the function and structure of thylakoid membrane

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Photosynthetica

Abstract

Drought impacts severely crop photosynthesis and productivity. Development of transgenic rice overexpressing maize phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) is a promising strategy for improving crop production under drought stress. However, the molecular mechanisms of protection from PEPC are not yet clear. The objective of this study was: first, to characterize the response of individual photosynthetic components to drought stress; second, to study the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying the drought tolerance of transgenic rice (cv. Kitaake) over-expressing maize PEPC. Our results showed that PEPC overexpressing improved the ability of transgenic rice to conserve water and pigments during drying as compared to wild type. Despite the fact that drought induced reactive oxygen species and damaged photosystems (especially, PSI) in both lines, higher intercellular CO2 concentration protected the photosynthetic complexes, peptides, and also ultrastructure of thylakoid membranes against the oxidative damage in transgenic rice. In conclusion, although photosynthetic apparatus suffered an inevitable and asymmetric impairment during drought conditions, PEPC effectively alleviated the oxidative damage on photosystems and enhanced the drought tolerance by increasing intercellular CO2 concentration. Our investigation provided critical clues for exploring the feasibility of using C4 photosynthesis to increase the yield of rice under the aggravated global warming.

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Abbreviations

BN-PAGE:

blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

Chl:

chlorophyll

C i :

intercellular CO2 concentration

DM:

dry mass

DS:

drought stress

FM:

fresh mass

g s :

stomatal conductance

Ft :

fast chlorophyll a fluorescence transients

MDA:

malondialdehyde

OEC:

oxygen evolving complex

O2 ·− :

superoxide anion

PEPC:

phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

RC:

PSII reaction center

Rf:

relative mobility

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

RWC:

relative water content

T-PEPC:

transgenic rice overexpressing PEPC

TM:

turgid mass

WT:

wild type

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Wenyuan Road 1, 210023, Nanjing, China

    W. J. Shen, G. X. Chen, J. G. Xu, Y. Jiang, L. Liu, Z. P. Gao, J. Ma & C. F. Lv

  2. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    X. Chen

  3. Fu Ren High School, Biological Base of Jiangsu Province, Huiyou Road 1, 214123, Wuxi, China

    T. H. Chen

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  1. W. J. Shen
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  2. G. X. Chen
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  3. J. G. Xu
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  4. Y. Jiang
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  5. L. Liu
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  6. Z. P. Gao
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  7. J. Ma
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  8. X. Chen
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  9. T. H. Chen
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  10. C. F. Lv
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Correspondence to Z. P. Gao.

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Acknowledgements: This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No. 31271621/C1302), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (grant No. 11KJA180001), the Youth Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (grant No. BK20140916), the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (grant No. 14KJB180011), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).

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Shen, W.J., Chen, G.X., Xu, J.G. et al. Overexpression of maize phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase improves drought tolerance in rice by stabilization the function and structure of thylakoid membrane. Photosynthetica 53, 436–446 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0111-8

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