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Glycine betaine application in grain filling wheat plants alleviates heat and high light-induced photoinhibition by enhancing the psbA transcription and stomatal conductance

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Abstract

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) plants often suffer from heat stress combined with high irradiance during the grain filling stage. Glycine betaine (GB) is a compatible solute that accumulates rapidly to enhance stress tolerance in wheat under abiotic stress. In this study, the effect of foliar application of GB on photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry in wheat leaves under the heat and high light stresses were investigated. The results showed that GB-supplemented wheat plants maintained higher chlorophyll content, photochemical activity of PSII and net photosynthetic rate (P n) than stressed only plants. Moreover, GB-treated plants could retard the decrease of psbA gene transcription and accelerate the endogenous accumulation of GB in leaves. The results suggested that the increasing stress tolerance by GB accumulation was associated with an improvement in D1 protein synthesis, which accelerated the repair of PSII following stress-enhanced photoinhibition. Moreover, the accumulation of abscisic acid under the heat and high light stresses was retarded by foliar application of GB, and the decrease of stomatal conductance was inhibited as well. The results suggested that GB accumulation in vivo was involved in the regulation of stomatal conductance. Further work is required to elucidate the mechanism of GB-induced stomatal movement and PSII photoprotection.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

ANOVA:

One-way analysis of variance

C t :

Cycle threshold

ddH2O:

Double distilled H2O

ELISA:

Enzyme-linked immuno sorbent

F m :

Maximal fluorescence

F v :

Variable fluorescence in dark-adapted leaves

F v/F m :

Maximal efficiency of PSII

GB:

Glycine betaine

g s :

Stomatal conductance

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

P n :

Net photosynthetic rate

PPFD:

Photosynthetic photon flux density

PSII:

Photosystem II

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SA:

Salicylic acid

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31000688) and the Education Department of Henan Province (Grant No. 13A210487).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Henan Agricultural University, 63 Nongye Rd., Zhengzhou, Henan Province, 450002, China

    Yuexia Wang, Shuchun Liu, Huanling Zhang, Yidan Zhao, Huijie Zhao & Huashan Liu

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  1. Yuexia Wang
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  2. Shuchun Liu
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  3. Huanling Zhang
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  4. Yidan Zhao
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  5. Huijie Zhao
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Correspondence to Yuexia Wang or Huijie Zhao.

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Communicated by Z. Miszalski.

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Wang, Y., Liu, S., Zhang, H. et al. Glycine betaine application in grain filling wheat plants alleviates heat and high light-induced photoinhibition by enhancing the psbA transcription and stomatal conductance. Acta Physiol Plant 36, 2195–2202 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-014-1596-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-014-1596-7

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