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Low concentrations of glycine inhibit photorespiration and enhance the net rate of photosynthesis in Caragana korshinskii

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Photosynthetica

Abstract

The inhibition of photorespiration can be used to improve plant carbon fixation. In order to compare the effects of three photorespiration inhibitors [glycine, NaHSO3, and isonicotinyl hydrazide (INH)], photosynthetic parameters of leaves sprayed respectively with these chemicals were examined and their inhibiting efficiency was evaluated in Caragana korshinskii. Our results showed that 5 mM glycine could reduce the photorespiratory rate (PR) effectively, while the net photosynthetic rate (PN), stomatal conductance (gs), and intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) significantly increased. The ratio of electron flow for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylation to RuBP oxygenation was elevated markedly. NaHSO3 and INH could also suppress the PR in some cases, whereas PN was not improved. The glyoxylate content increased considerably after application of low concentrations of glycine. These results suggested that low concentrations of glycine could suppress photorespiration by feed-back inhibition of glyoxylate and enhance photosynthesis by regulating gs, Ci, and the distribution of electron flow in C. korshinskii.

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Abbreviations

CE:

carboxylation efficiency

Chl:

chlorophyll

C i :

intercellular CO2 concentration

F0 :

minimal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state

Fm :

maximal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state

Fm' :

maximal fluorescence yield of the lightadapted state

Fs :

steady-state fluorescence yield

ΔF/Fm' :

effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

FM:

fresh mass

GDC:

glycine decarboxylase

GGAT:

glutamate:glyoxylate aminotransferase

GO:

glycolate oxidase

g s :

stomatal conductance

INH:

isonicotinyl hydrazide

Jc :

electron flow to RuBP carboxylation

Jo :

electron flow to RuBP oxygenation

JT :

total electron transport rate

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

P R :

photorespiratory rate

R D :

respiration rate

RuBP:

ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate

SGAT:

serine:glyoxylate aminotransferase

SHMT:

serine hydroxymethyl transferase.

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Author notes

  1. T. Kang and H.D. Wu have equally contributed to this work, and should be both regarded as the first author.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China

    T. Kang, H. D. Wu, B. Y. Lu, X. J. Luo, C. M. Gong & J. Bai

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  1. T. Kang
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  2. H. D. Wu
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  3. B. Y. Lu
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  4. X. J. Luo
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  5. C. M. Gong
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  6. J. Bai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Bai.

Additional information

Acknowledgements: This study was funded by the National Natural Science of China (31100455 and 31070538). We are grateful to Dr. Guillaume Queval and Dr. Pengbo Ning for useful suggestions and discussions about the manuscript.

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Kang, T., Wu, H.D., Lu, B.Y. et al. Low concentrations of glycine inhibit photorespiration and enhance the net rate of photosynthesis in Caragana korshinskii. Photosynthetica 56, 512–519 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-017-0688-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-017-0688-1

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