Abstract
Responses to drought were studied using two maize inbred lines (B76 and B106) and a commercial maize hybrid (Zea mays L. cv. Silver Queen) with differing resistance to abiotic stress. Maize seedlings were grown in pots in controlled environment chambers for 17 days and watering was withheld from one half the plants for an additional 11 days. On the final treatment date, leaf water potentials did not differ among genotypes and were −0.84 and −1.49 MPa in the water sufficient and insufficient treatments, respectively. Greater rates of CO2 assimilation were retained by the stress tolerant maize inbred line, B76, in comparison to the other two genotypes 11 days after watering was withheld. Rates of CO2 assimilation for all three genotypes were unaffected by decreasing the measurement O2 concentration from 21 to 2% (v/v). Activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME), and NADP malate dehydrogenase were inhibited from 25 to 49% by the water deficiency treatment. Genotypic differences also were detected for the activities of NADP-ME and for PEPC. Changes of transcript abundance for the three C4 pathway enzymes also varied among watering treatments and genotypes. However, examples where transcripts decreased due to drought were associated with the two stress susceptible genotypes. The above results showed that enzymes in the C4 photosynthetic pathway were less inhibited by drought in stress tolerant compared to stress susceptible maize genotypes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- g s(21) :
-
stomatal conductance at 21% O2
- g s(2) :
-
stomatal conductance at 2% O2
- NADP-MDH:
-
NADP-dependent malate dehydrogenase
- NADP-ME:
-
NADP-dependent malic enzyme
- PEPC:
-
phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase
- P N(21) :
-
net photosynthetic rates at 21% O2
- P N(2) :
-
net photosynthetic rates at 2% O2
- Ψw :
-
leaf water potential
References
Bae H., Sicher R., Natarajan S., Bailey B.: In situ expression of trehalose synthesizing genes, TPS1 and TPPB, in Arabidopsis thaliana using the GUS reporter gene. — Plant Cell Tiss. Org. 98: 311–319, 2009.
Becker T.W., Fock H.P.: Effects of water stress on the gas exchange, the activities of some enzymes of carbon and nitrogen metabolism, and on the pool sizes of some organic acids in maize leaves. — Photosynth. Res. 8: 175–181, 1986.
Bunce J.A.: Carbon dioxide effects on stomatal responses to the environment and water use by crops under field conditions. — Oecologia 140: 1–10, 2004.
Campos H., Cooper A., Hebben J.E. et al.: Improving drought tolerance in maize: A view from industry. — Field Crop. Res. 90: 19–34, 2004.
Chen J., Xu J., Velten J.P. et al.: Characterization of maize inbred lines for drought and heat tolerance. — J. Soil Water Conserv. 67: 354–364, 2012.
Chollet R., Ogren W.: Regulation of photorespiration in C3 and C4 species. — Bot. Rev. 41: 137–179, 1975.
Du Y.C., Kawamitsu Y., Nose A. et al.: Effects of water stress on carbon exchange rate and activities of photosynthetic enzyme in leaves of sugarcane (Saccharum sp.). — Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 23: 719–726, 1996.
Farquhar G.D., von Caemmerer S.: Modelling of photosynthetic response to environmental conditions. — In: Lange O.L., Nobel P.S., Osmond C.B., Ziegler H. (ed.): Physiological Plant Ecology II. Water Relations and Carbon Assimilation. Pp 549–587. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1982.
Foyer C.H., Valadier M.H., Migge A., Becker T.W.: Drought induced effects on nitrate reductase activity and mRNA and on the coordination of nitrogen and carbon metabolism in maize leaves. — Plant Physiol. 117: 283–292, 1998.
Flexas J., Bota J., Loreta F. et al.: Diffusive and metabolic limitations to photosynthesis under drought and salinity in C3 plants. — Plant Biol. 6: 269–279, 2004.
Ghannoum O.: C4 photosynthesis and water stress. — Ann. Bot.-London 103: 635–644, 2009.
Hatfield J.L., Boote K.J., Hahn L. et al.: Agriculture. — In: The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources and Biodiversity. A Report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Climate Change Research. Pp. 21–74. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 2008.
Hayano-Kanashiro C., Calderón-Vazquez A., Ibarra-Laclette E. et al.: Analysis of gene expression and physiological responses in three Mexican maize landraces under drought stress and recovery irrigation. — PLOS One: 4: e7531, 2009.
Lawlor D.W.: Limitation to photosynthesis in water-stressed leaves: Stomata vs. metabolism and the role of ATP. — Ann. Bot.-London 89: 871–885, 2002.
Lawlor D.W., Cornic G.: Photosynthetic carbon assimilation and associated metabolism in relation to water deficits in higher plants. — Plant Cell Environ. 25: 275–294, 2002.
Lawlor D.W., Fock H.: Photosynthesis, respiration and carbon assimilation in water-stressed maize at two oxygen concentrations. — J. Exp. Bot. 29: 579–593, 1978.
Lobell D.B., Schlenker W., Costa-Roberts J.: Climate trends and global crop production since 1980. — Science 333: 616–620, 2011.
Ludlow M.M., Wilson G.L.: Photosynthesis of tropical pasture plants. I. Illuminance, carbon dioxide concentration, leaf temperature, and leaf-air vapour pressure difference. — Aust. J. Biol. Sci. 24: 449–470, 1971.
Maroco J.P., Edwards G.E., Ku M.S.B.: Photosynthetic acclimation of maize to growth under elevated carbon dioxide. — Planta 210:115–125, 1999.
Paruelo J.M., Lauenroth W.K.: Relative abundance of plant functional types in grasslands and shrublands of North America. — Ecol. Appl. 6: 1212–1224, 1996.
Pfaffl M.W.: A new mathematical model for relative quantification in real-time RT-PCR. — Nucleic Acids Res. 29: e45, 2001.
Qu M., Bunce J.A., Shi Z.: Does elevated CO2 modify water status and mitigate photosynthetic damage of juvenile maize leaves caused by short-term heat stress? — Photosynthetica 52: 211–216, 2014.
Ripley B.S., Gilbert M.E., Ibrahim D.G., Osborne C.P.: Drought restraints on C4 photosynthesis: stomatal and metabolic limitations in C3 and C4 subspecies of Allopteris semialata. — J. Exp. Bot. 58: 1351–1363, 2007.
Robinson J.M.: Photosynthetic carbon metabolism in leaves and isolated chloroplasts from spinach plants grown under short and intermediate photosynthetic periods. — Plant Physiol. 75: 397–409, 1984.
Russell W.A., Hallauer A.R.: Registration of B76 and B77 parental lines of maize. — Crop Sci. 14: 778, 1974.
Saccardy K., Cornic G., Brulfert J., Reyss A.: Effect of drought stress on net CO2 uptake by Zea leaves. — Planta 199: 589–595, 1996.
Sage R.F.: The evolution of C-4 photosynthesis. — New Phytol. 161: 341–370, 2004.
Sicher R.C., Barnaby J.Y.: Impact of carbon dioxide enrichment on responses of maize leaf transcripts and metabolites to water stress. — Physiol. Plantarum 144: 238–253, 2012.
Sicher R.C., Kim S.H.: Photosynthesis, growth and maize yield in the context of global change. — In: Prioul J.L., Thévenot C., Molnar T. (ed.): Advances in Maize, Essential Reviews in Experimental Biology, Vol. 3. Pp. 379–392. Society for Experimental Biology, London. 2011.
Turrent A., Serratos J.A. Context and background on maize and its wild relatives in Mexico. — In: Maize and Biodiversity: The effects of transgenic maize in Mexico. Pp. 1–36, Council for Environmental Cooperation [www.cec.org/files/PDF//Maizeand-Biodiversity_en.pdf]. 2004.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Acknowledgments: The authors thank R. Erdman and M. Strem for valuable technical assistance. Dr. V.R. Reddy contributed by helpful advice on an early draft of this manuscript.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sicher, R., Bunce, J., Barnaby, J. et al. Water-deficiency effects on single leaf gas exchange and on C4 pathway enzymes of maize genotypes with differing abiotic stress tolerance. Photosynthetica 53, 3–10 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0074-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0074-9