Development of a Compound Photorespiration Inhibitor and Its Application on Sweet Cherry

[Objectives]This study was conducted to investigate the effects of compound photorespiration inhibitors on related indexes of sweet cherry.[Methods]With the main sweet cherry variety‘Meizao’as a test material,relevant research work was carried out.[Results]Several compound photorespiration inhibitors had a better promotion effect on the photosynthetic capacity,yield and quality of sweet cherry variety‘Meizao’,and especially,the combination of 300 mg/L sodium bicarbonate,300 mg/L sodium bisulfite,300 mg/L 2,3-epoxypropionic acid and 1.5%tween-80 had the best effect.[Conclusions]The combined use of the three photorespiration inhibitors is better than the single use,and produces a good synergistic effect.

Effect of light intensity on partitioning of photosynthetic electron transport to photorespiration in four subtropical forest plants

Photosynthetic rate (Pn) and the partitioning of noncyclic photosynthetic electron transport to photorespiration (Jo) in seedlings of four subtropical woody plants growing at three light intensities were studied in the summer time by measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence and CO2 exchange. Except Schima superba, an upper canopy tree species, the tree species Castanopsis fissa and two understory shrubs Psychotria rubra, Ardisia quinquegona had the highest Pn at 36% of sunlight intensity. The total photosynthetic electron transport rate (JF) and the ratio of Jo/JF were elevated in leaves under full sunlight. Jo/JF ratio reached 0.5-0.6 and coincided with the increasing of oxygenation rate of Rubisco (Vo), the activity of glycolate oxidase and photorespiration rate at full sunlight. It is suggested that an increasing partitioning proportion of photosynthetic electron transport to photorespiration might be one of the protective regulation mechanisms in forest plant under strong summer light and high

Relation between photorespiration and photoinhibitionin cotton leaves

Photorespiration is a well-known CO2-evolution process accompanying photosyntheticCO2 uptake, whereas its physiological significance is still not well understood. As alreadyreported, severe photoinhibition occurred in the leaves or chloroplasts exposed to stronglight in the absence of CO2 upon suppression of photorespiration, while photoinhibitioncould be prevented by the supply of CO2 at a concentration near the compensation point.

Optimizing photorespiration for improved crop productivity

In C3 plants, photorespiration is an energyexpensive process, including the oxygenation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate(RuBP) by ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase(Rubisco) and the ensuing multiorganellar photorespiratory pathway required to recycle the toxic byproducts and recapture a portion of the fixed carbon. Photorespiration significantly impacts crop productivity through reducing yields in C3 crops by as much as 50%under severe conditions. Thus, reducing the flux through, or weive R improving the efficiency of photorespiration has the potential of large improvements in C3 crop productivity.Here, we review an array of approaches intended to engineer photorespiration in a range of plant systems with the goal of increasing crop productivity. Approaches include optimizing flux through the native photorespiratory pathway, installing non-native alternative photorespiratory pathways, and lowering or even eliminating Rubiscocatalyzed oxygenation of RuBP to reduce substrate entrance into the photorespiratory cycle. Some proposed designs have been successful at the proof of concept level.A plant systems-engineering approach, based on new opportunities available from synthetic biology to implement in silico designs, holds promise for further progress toward delivering more productive crops to farmer’s fields.

Photorespiration Is Crucial for Dynamic Response of Photosynthetic Metabolism and Stomatal Movement to Altered C02 Availability

The photorespiratory pathway or photorespiration is an essential process in oxygenic photosynthetic or- ganisms, which can reduce the efficiency of photosynthetic carbon assimilation and is hence frequently considered as a wasteful process. By comparing the response of the wild-type plants and mutants impaired in photorespiration to a shift in ambient C02 concentrations, we demonstrate that photorespiration also plays a beneficial role during short-term acclimation to reduced C02 availability. The wild-type plants re- sponded with few differentially expressed genes, mostly involved in drought stress, which is likely a conse- quence of enhanced opening of stomata and concomitant water loss upon a shift toward low C02. In contrast, mutants with impaired activity of photorespiratory enzymes were highly stressed and not able to adjust stomatal conductance to reduced external C02 availability. The transcriptional response of mutant plants was congruent, indicating a general reprogramming to deal with the consequences of reduced C02 availability, signaled by enhanced oxygenation of ribulose-l,5-bisphosphate and amplified by the artificially impaired photorespiratory metabolism. Central in this reprogramming was the pro- nounced reallocation of resources from growth processes to stress responses. Taken together, our results indicate that unrestricted photorespiratory metabolism is a prerequisite for rapid physiological acclimation to a reduction in C02 availability.

Influences of open-central canopy on photosynthetic parameters and fruit quality of apples(Malus×domestica)in the Loess Plateau of China

Although open-central canopy(OCC)is popular in apple(Malus×domestica)orchards in Loess Plateau of China,its relevant photosynthetic mechanisms have not been elucidated.In this study,changes in photosynthetically active radiation(PAR),gas exchange,chlorophyll fluorescence quenching and fruit quality in apple trees were measured in OCC and compared with those in the conventional condensed round and large canopy(RLC).Results showed that light intercepted at different orientations was 44%higher by OCC than that by RLC.The improved light environment within OCC remarkably increased leaf maximum net photosynthetic rate(Pnmax)and significantly decreased stomatal limitation.Under high light,the ratio of photorespiratory rate to gross photosynthetic rate(Pr/Pg)in OCC was higher than that in RLC.Moreover,reversible component in non-photochemical quenching(r(qE))was increased,while irreversible component(r(qI))was decreased in OCC than in RLC.As a result,the fruit quality in OCC was greatly boosted as evidenced by the significantly increased single fruit weight,fruit flesh firmness and fruit soluble solid contents and the sharply decreased fruit titratable acid contents.PAR intercepted by the canopy and the fruit soluble solid contents,leaf Pnmaxor single fruit weight were positively correlated,while PAR or Pnmaxwas negatively correlated with the fruit titratable acid contents.Accordingly,the improved crown light environment and the enhanced leaf photosynthetic performance and photoprotective capacity in OCC led to the boosted fruit quality.

Peculiarities of CO₂exchange in soybean genotypes contrasting in grain yield

The peculiarities of leaf carbon dioxide gas exchange in soybean genotypes grown in field over a large area and contrasting in duration of vegetation, photosynthetic traits and productivity were studied. Varietal differences in the daily and ontogenetic changes in photosynthesis and photorespiration were identified. It was established that the period of the high activity of photosynthetic apparatus in high productive soybean genotypes lasts for a longer time. The photosynthetic rate and the rate of CO2 release in light due to photorespiration are higher in high productive genotypes. A value of photorespiration in contrasting soybean genotypes constitutes about 28% - 35% of photosynthetic rate. The ratio of gross photosynthesis to photorespiration in genotypes with different productivity is constant enough during ontogenesis, indicating a direct positive correlation between gross photosynthesis and photorespiration. Therefore, contrary to conception arisen during many years on the waste-fulness of photorespiration, taking into account the versatile investigations on different aspects of photo-respiration, it was proved that photorespiration is one of the evolutionarily developed vital metabolic processes in plants and the attempts to reduce this process with the purpose of increasing the crop productivity are inconsistent.

Improving photosynthetic efficiency toward food security:Strategies,advances,and perspectives

Photosynthesis in crops and natural vegetation allows light energy to be converted into chemical energy and thus forms the foundation for almost all terrestrial trophic networks on Earth.The efficiency of photosynthetic energy conversion plays a crucial role in determining the portion of incident solar radiation that can be used to generate plant biomass throughout a growth season.Consequently,alongside the factors such as resource availability,crop management,crop selection,maintenance costs,and intrinsic yield potential,photosynthetic energy use efficiency significantly influences crop yield.Photosynthetic efficiency is relevant to sustainability and food security because it affects water use efficiency,nutrient use efficiency,and land use efficiency.This review focuses specifically on the potential for improvements in photosynthetic efficiency to drive a sustainable increase in crop yields.We discuss bypassing photorespiration,enhancing light use efficiency,harnessing natural variation in photosynthetic parameters for breeding purposes,and adopting new-to-nature approaches that show promise for achieving unprecedented gains in photosynthetic efficiency.

Physiological and Growth Responses of C_3 and C_4 Plants to Reduced Temperature When Grown at Low CO_2 of the Last Ice Age

During the last ice age, CO2 concentration （[CO2]） was 180-200 umol/mol compared with the modern value of 380 umol/mol, and global temperatures were -8 ℃ cooler. Relatively little is known about the responses of C3 and C4 species to longterm exposure to glacial conditions. Here Abutilon theophrasti Medik. （C3） and Amaranthus retroflexus L. （C4） were grown at 200 umol/mol CO2 with current （30/24℃） and glacial （22/16℃） temperatures for 22d. Overall, the C4 species exhibited a large growth advantage over the C3 species at low [CO2]. However, this advantage was reduced at low temperature, where the C4 species produced 5x the total mass of the C3 species versus 14x at the high temperature. This difference was due to a reduction in C4 growth at low temperature, since the C3 species exhibited similar growth between temperatures. Physiological differences between temperatures were not detected for either species, although photorespiration/net photosynthesis was reduced in the C3 species grown at low temperature, suggesting evidence of improved carbon balance at this treatment. This system suggests that C4 species had a growth advantage over C3 species during low [CO2] of the last ice age, although concurrent reductions in temperatures may have reduced this advantage.

Induction of the AOX1D Isoform of Alternative Oxidase in A. thaliana T-DNA Insertion Lines Lacking Isoform AOX1A Is Insufficient to Optimize Photosynthesis when Treated with Antimycin A

Plant respiration is characterized by two pathways for electron transfer to O2, namely the cytochrome pathway （CP） that is linked to ATP production, and the alternative pathway （AP）, where electrons from ubiquinol are directly transferred to O2 via an alternative oxidase （AOX） without concomitant ATP production. This latter pathway is well suited to dispose of excess electrons in the light, leading to optimized photosynthetic performance. We have characterized T- DNA-insertion mutant lines of Arabidopsis thaliana that do not express the major isoform, AOXIA. In standard growth conditions, these plants did not show any phenotype, but restriction of electron flow through CP by antimycin A, which induces AOXIA expression in the wild-type, led to an increased expression of AOXID in leaves of the aoxla-knockout mutant. Despite the increased presence of the AOX1D isoform in the mutant, antimycin A caused inhibition of photosyn- thesis, increased ROS, and ultimately resulted in amplified membrane leakage and necrosis when compared to the wild- type, which was only marginally affected by the inhibitor. It thus appears that AOX1 D was unable to fully compensate for the loss of AOXIA when electron flow via the CP is restricted. A combination of inhibition studies, coupled to metabolite profiling and targeted expression analysis of the P-protein of glycine decarboxylase complex （GDC）, suggests that the aoxla mutants attempt to increase their capacity for photorespiration. However, given their deficiency, it is intriguing that increase in expression neither of AOX1D nor of GDC could fully compensate for the lack of AOXIA to optimize pho- tosynthesis when treated with antimycin A. We suggest that the aoxla mutants can further be used to substantiate the current models concerning the influence of mitochondrial redox on photosynthetic performance and gene expression.

Contribution of the Alternative Respiratory Pathway to PSII Photoprotection in C3 and C4 Plants

The mechanism by which the mitochondrial alternative oxidase （AOX） pathway contributes to photosystem II （PSII） photoprotection is in dispute. It was generally thought that the AOX pathway protects photosystems by dissipating excess reducing equivalents exported from chloroplasts through the malate/oxaloacetate （Mal/OAA） shuttle and thus preventing the over-reduction of chloroplasts. In this study, using the aoxla Arabidopsis mutant and nine other C3 and C4 plant species, we revealed an additional action model of the AOX pathway in PSII photoprotection. Although the AOX pathway contributes to PSII photoprotection in C3 leaves treated with high light, this contribution was observed to disappear when photorespiration was suppressed. Disruption or inhibition of the AOX pathway significantly decreased the photorespiration in C3 leaves. Moreover, the AOX pathway did not respond to high light and contributed little to PSII photoprotection in C4 leaves possessing a highly active Mal/OAA shuttle but with little photorespiration. These results demonstrate that the AOX pathway contributes to PSII photoprotection in C3 plants by maintaining photo- respiration to detoxify glycolate and via the indirect export of excess reducing equivalents from chloro-plasts by the MaI/OAA shuttle. This new action model explains why the AOX pathway does not contribute to PSII photoprotection in C4 plants.

Spatial H202 Signaling Specificity： H202 from Chloroplasts and Peroxisomes Modulates the Plant Transcriptome Differentially

Hydrogen peroxide （H2O2） operates as a signaling molecule in eukaryotes, but the specificity of its signal- ing capacities remains largely unrevealed. Here, we analyzed whether a moderate production of H2O2 from two different plant cellular compartments has divergent effects on the plant transcriptome. Arabidopsis thaliana overexpressing glycolate oxidase in the chloroplast （Fahnenstich et al., 2008; Balazadeh et al., 2012） and plants deficient in peroxisomal catalase （Queval et al., 2007; Inze et al., 2012） were grown under non-photorespiratory conditions and then transferred to photorespiratory conditions to foster the production of H202 in both organelles. We show that H202 originating in a specific organelle induces two types of responses： one that integrates signals independently from the subcellular site of H202 production and another that is dependent on the H2O2 production site. H2O2 produced in peroxisomes induces transcripts involved in protein repair responses, while H2O2 produced in chloroplasts induces early signaling responses, including transcription factors and biosynthetic genes involved in production of secondary signaling messengers. There is a significant bias towards the induction of genes involved in responses to wounding and pathogen attack by chloroplas- tic-produced H202, including indolic glucosinolates-, camalexin-, and stigmasterol-biosynthetic genes. These transcriptional responses were accompanied by the accumulation of 4-methoxy-indol-3-ylmethyl glucosinolate and stigmasterol.

Mild Reductions in Mitochondrial NAD- Dependent Isocitrate Dehydrogenase Activity Result in Altered Nitrate Assimilation and Piqmentation But Do Not Impact Growth

Transgenic tomato （Solanum lycopersicum） plants were generated expressing a fragment of the mitochon- drial NAD-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase gene （SIIDH1） in the antisense orientation. The transgenic plants displayed a mild reduction in the activity of the target enzyme in the leaves but essentially no visible alteration in growth from the wild-type. Fruit size and yield were, however, reduced. These plants were characterized by relatively few changes in pho- tosynthetic parameters, but they displayed a minor decrease in maximum photosynthetic efficiency （Fv/Fm）. Furthermore, a clear reduction in flux through the tricarboxylic acid （TCA） cycle was observed in the transformants. Additionally, bio- chemical analyses revealed that the transgenic lines exhibited considerably altered metabolism, being characterized by slight decreases in the levels of amino acids, intermediates of the TCA cycle, photosynthetic pigments, starch, and NAD（P）H levels, but increased levels of nitrate and protein. Results from these studies show that even small changes in mitochon- drial NAD-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase activity lead to noticeable alterations in nitrate assimilation and suggest the presence of different strategies by which metabolism is reprogrammed to compensate for this deficiency.

Two hydroxypyruvate reductases encoded by OsHPR1 and OsHPR2 are involved in photorespiratory metabolism in rice

Mutations in the photorespiration pathway dis- play a lethal phenotype in atmospheric air, which can be fully recovered by elevated C02. An exception is that mutants of peroxisomal hydroxypyruvate reductase （HPR1） do not have this phenotype, indicating the presence of cytosolic bypass in the photorespiration pathway. In this study, we constructed overexpression of the OsHPR1 gene and RNA interference plants of OsHPR1 and OsHPR2 genes in rice （Oryza sativo L. cv. Zhonghua 11）. Results from reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR）, Western blot, and enzyme assays showed that HPR1 activity changed significantly in corresponding transgenic lines without any effect on HPR2 activity, which is the same for HPR2. However, metabolite analysis and the serine glyoxylate aminotransferase （SGAT） activity assay showed that the metabolite flux of photorespiration was disturbed in RNAi lines of both HPR genes. Furthermore, HPR1 and HPR2 proteins were located to the peroxisome and cytosol, respectively, by transient expression experiment. Double mutant hprl x hpr2 was generated by crossing individual mutant of hprl and hpr2. The phenotypes of all transgenic lines were determined in ambient air and C02-elevated air. The phenotype typical of photorespiration mutants was observed only where activity of both HPRI and HPR2 were downregulated in the same line. These findings demonstrate that two hydroxypyruvate reductases encoded by OsHPRI and OsHPR2 are involved in photorespiratory metabolism in rice.

Analysis of Short-Term Metabolic Alterations in Arabidopsis Following Changes in the Prevailing Environmental Conditions

Although a considerable increase in our knowledge concerning the importance of metabolic adjustments to unfavorable growth conditions has been recently provided, relatively little is known about the adjustments which occur in response to fluctuation in environmental factors. Evaluating the metabolic adjustments occurring under changing environmental conditions thus offers a good opportunity to increase our current understanding of the crosstalk between the major pathways which are affected by such conditions. To this end, plants growing under normal conditions were transferred to different light and temperature conditions which were anticipated to affect （amongst other processes） the rates of photosynthesis and photorespiration and characterized at the physiological, molecular, and metabolic levels following this transition. Our results revealed similar behavior in response to both treatments and imply a tight connec- tivity of photorespiration with the major pathways of plant metabolism. They further highlight that the majority of the regulation of these pathways is not mediated at the level of transcription but that leaf metabolism is rather pre-poised to adapt to changes in these input parameters.