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Overaccumulation of glycine betaine enhances tolerance to drought and heat stress in wheat leaves in the protection of photosynthesis

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Photosynthetica

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 June 2010

Abstract

We investigated the different responses of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants to drought- (DS) and heat stress (HS), and analyzed the physiological mechanisms of glycine betaine (GB) involved in the improvement of wheat tolerance to the combination of these stresses. The transgenic wheat T6 line was generated by introducing a gene encoding betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH) into the wild-type (WT) Shi4185 line. The gene was cloned from the Garden Orache plant (Atriplex hortensis L.). Wheat seedlings were subjected to drought stress (30%, PEG-6000), heat stress (40°C), and their combination. Photosynthetic gas exchange, water status and lipid peroxidation of wheat leaves were examined under different stresses. When subjected to a combination of drought and heat, the inhibition of photosynthesis was significantly increased compared to that under DS or HS alone. The increased inhibition of photosynthesis by the combined stresses was not simply the additive stress effect of separate heat- and drought treatments; different responses in plant physiology to DS and HS were also found. HS decreased the chlorophyll (Chl) content, net photosynthetic rate (P N), carboxylation efficiency (CE) and apparent quantum yield (AQY) more than DS but DS decreased the transpiration rate (E), stomata conductance (g s) and intercellular CO2 concentration (C i) more than HS. GB over-accumulation led to increased photosynthesis not only under individual DS or HS but also under their combination. The enhancement of antioxidant activity and the improvement of water status may be the mechanisms underlying the improvement of photosynthesis by GB in wheat plants.

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Abbreviations

APX:

ascorbate peroxidase

AQY:

apparent quantum yield

AsA:

ascorbic acid

BADH:

betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase

C i :

intercellular CO2 concentration

Car:

carotenoid

CAT:

catalase

CE:

carboxylation efficiency

Chl:

chlorophyll

CK:

well-watered control

DM:

dry mass

DS:

drought stress

DS+HS:

combination of drought- and heat stress

E :

transpiration rate

FM:

fresh mass

g s :

stomatal conductance

GSH:

reduced glutathione

GSSG:

oxidized form of glutathione

HS:

heat stress

MDA:

malondialdehyde

OA:

osmotic adjustment

POD:

peroxidase

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

PPFD:

photosynthetic photon flux density

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

RWC:

relative water content

SFM:

water-saturated fresh mass

SOD:

superoxide dismutase

ΨPSII :

actual efficiency of PSII photochemistry

Ψs :

osmotic potential

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Prof. S.Y. Chen (Institute of Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) for her kindly presentation of the transgenic wheat lines to us. This study is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30671259).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State key laboratory of crop biology/College of life science, Shandong agricultural university Tai’an, Shandong, 271018, China

    G. P. Wang, X. Y. Zhang, F. Li, Y. Luo & W. Wang

  2. Shandong Institute of Pomology, Tai’an, Shandong, 271000, China

    G. P. Wang

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  1. G. P. Wang
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  2. X. Y. Zhang
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  3. F. Li
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  4. Y. Luo
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  5. W. Wang
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Correspondence to W. Wang.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11099-010-0037-0

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Wang, G.P., Zhang, X.Y., Li, F. et al. Overaccumulation of glycine betaine enhances tolerance to drought and heat stress in wheat leaves in the protection of photosynthesis. Photosynthetica 48, 117–126 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-010-0016-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-010-0016-5

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