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Down-regulation of Rubisco activity under combined increases of CO2 and temperature minimized by changes in Rubisco kcat in wheat

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Abstract

Increases in growth temperature have been observed to affect photosynthesis differently under long-term exposure to ambient- and twice ambient-air CO2 concentrations. This study investigates the causes of this interaction in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in the field over two consecutive years under temperature gradient chambers in ambient (370 μmol mol−1) or elevated (700 μmol mol−1) atmospheric CO2 concentrations and at ambient or ambient +4°C temperatures, with either a low or a high nitrogen supply. The photosynthesis-internal CO2 response curves and the activity, activation state, kcat and amount of Ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) were measured, as well as the soluble protein concentration in flag leaves at ear emergence and 8–15 days after anthesis. A high nitrogen supply increased Vcmax, the Rubisco amount and activity and soluble protein contents, but did not significantly change the Rubisco kcat. Both elevated CO2 and above ambient temperatures had negative effects on Vcmax and Rubisco activity, but at elevated CO2, an increase in temperature did not decrease Vcmax or Rubisco activity in relation to ambient temperature. The amounts of Rubisco and soluble protein decreased with elevated CO2 and temperature. The negative impact of elevated CO2 on Rubisco properties was somewhat counteracted at elevated temperatures by an increase in kcat. This effect can diminish the detrimental effects on photosynthesis of combined increases of CO2 and temperature.

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Abbreviations

Jmax :

Maximum rate of photosynthetic electron transport

RuBP:

Ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate

Vcmax :

Maximum Rubisco-limited rate of carboxylation

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Acknowledgments

The technical cooperation of A. L. Verdejo in gas exchange measurements and Rubisco activity assays is acknowledged. L. Hernández analyzed Rubisco and soluble protein. We thank the staff at this Institute’s experimental farm for their technical assistance in crop husbandry. This work was funded by the Spanish Research and Development Plan (Projects no. BFI2000-0871 and AGL2006-13541-C02-02/AGR) and the CSIC intramural contract no. 200640I148. R. Morcuende had I3P and Ramon y Cajal research contracts, and A. Alonso an I3P pre-doctoral fellowship, from the CSIC-European Social Fund. G. Zita was the recipient of a grant from the Autonomous University of Mexico. We thank the anonymous referee whose constructive comments were very helpful in improving the quality of this work.

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  1. Gloria Zita

    Present address: Departamento de Ciencias Agrícolas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

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  1. Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Salamanca, IRNASA-CSIC, Apartado 257, 37071, Salamanca, Spain

    Pilar Pérez, Aitor Alonso, Gloria Zita, Rosa Morcuende & Rafael Martínez-Carrasco

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  1. Pilar Pérez
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Correspondence to Pilar Pérez.

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Pérez, P., Alonso, A., Zita, G. et al. Down-regulation of Rubisco activity under combined increases of CO2 and temperature minimized by changes in Rubisco kcat in wheat. Plant Growth Regul 65, 439–447 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-011-9613-y

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