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Increased stomatal conductance and leaf biochemical capacity, not mesophyll conductance, contributing to the enhanced photosynthesis in Oryza plants during domestication

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Abstract

Main conclusion

Leaf biochemical capacity and the ratio of leaf biochemical capacity to stomatal conductance are promising to enhance leaf photosynthetic rate and water use efficiency in rice plants, respectively.

Abstract

Domestication may have great impact on crop photosynthetic rate, which has not been fully understood, especially from the perspective of stomatal conductance, mesophyll conductance, and leaf biochemical capacity simultaneously. In this study, we constructed a database consisting of 141 and 92 sets of data from wild and cultivated rice, respectively, including leaf gas exchange parameters, hydraulic conductance, structural traits, and nitrogen content. We found that, compared to wild rice, enhanced leaf photosynthetic rate in cultivated rice was mainly resulted by the increased stomatal conductance and leaf biochemical capacity, rather than mesophyll conductance. The unchanged mesophyll conductance observed during domestication suggested that it might have been optimized during plant evolution in wild rice. Additionally, the positive relationship between stomatal density and stomatal conductance disappeared in Oryza plants during domestication, suggesting that stomatal conductance in cultivated rice is less restricted by stomatal density, compared to wild rice. Moreover, in both wild and cultivated rice, leaf photosynthetic rate was mainly determined by leaf biochemical capacity, rather than stomatal conductance and mesophyll conductance. This study highlighted the important role of stomatal conductance and leaf biochemical capacity in improvement of leaf photosynthetic rate in rice during domestication. Leaf biochemical capacity and the ratio of leaf biochemical capacity to stomatal conductance should be further investigated to enhance leaf photosynthetic rate and water use efficiency in rice plants, respectively.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Jiangxi Provincial Science and Technology Plan Projects (GJJ2200428).

Funding

Jiangxi Provincial Science and Technology Plan Projects, GJJ2200428, Guanjun Huang.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Education, School of Agricultural Sciences, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, Jiangxi, China

    Guanjun Huang & Yongjun Zeng

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  1. Guanjun Huang
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  2. Yongjun Zeng
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Contributions

GH: conceived and designed the research; GH: collected and analyzed the data and wrote the paper; YZ: commented on and revised the paper.

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Correspondence to Guanjun Huang.

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Communicated by Dorothea Bartels.

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Huang, G., Zeng, Y. Increased stomatal conductance and leaf biochemical capacity, not mesophyll conductance, contributing to the enhanced photosynthesis in Oryza plants during domestication. Planta 259, 28 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-023-04305-x

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