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Sodium bisulfite enhances photosynthesis in rice by inducing Rubisco activase gene expression

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Photosynthetica

Abstract

To investigate how bisulfite promotes photosynthesis, a pot experiment was conducted with rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants to determine Rubisco activity and content, and Rubisco activase (RCA) gene expression after spraying NaHSO3 on rice leaves. The NaHSO3 treatment promoted significantly net photosynthetic rate (P N), carboxylation efficiency, maximum carboxylation rate, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate regeneration rate, initial Rubisco activity, and RCA protein and mRNA concentrations. Therefore, the NaHSO3 enhancement of P N could be directly attributed to induction of RCA gene expression both at the transcription and translation levels. Thus, the increased RCA regulated the initial Rubisco activity in vivo.

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Abbreviations

AQY:

apparent quantum yield

CE:

carboxylation efficiency

ELISA:

enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

C i :

intercellular CO2 concentration

g s :

stomatal conductance

Jmax :

RuBP regeneration rate

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

RCA:

Rubisco activase

RCAL :

RCA large isoform

RCAs :

RCA small isoform

R D :

dark respiration rate

RLS:

Rubisco large subunit

R P :

photorespiration rate

RSS:

Rubisco small subunit

RuBP:

ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate

Vcmax :

maximum carboxylation rate

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Correspondence to D. -A. Jiang.

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Acknowledgements: This work was supported by National Science and Technology Support Plan (2012BAC09B01) and National Natural Science Foundation (30971703 and 31171462).

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Chen, Y., Jin, J.H., Jiang, Q.S. et al. Sodium bisulfite enhances photosynthesis in rice by inducing Rubisco activase gene expression. Photosynthetica 52, 475–478 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-014-0044-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-014-0044-7

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