Photosynthesis. Carbon Metabolism: On Regulation at the Cellular Level and at the Whole Plant Level, and Some Considerations Concerning the Interactions of These Regulatory Events with the Increasing Level of Atmospheric CO2

Author(s):  
Grahame J. Kelly ◽  
Erwin Latzko
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 2813
Author(s):  
Verónica Castañeda ◽  
Esther M. González

Water-deficit stresses such as drought and salinity are the most important factors limiting crop productivity. Hence, understanding the plant responses to these stresses is key for the improvement of their tolerance and yield. In this study M. truncatula plants were subjected to 250 mM NaCl as well as reduced irrigation (No-W) and 250 g/L polyethylene glycol (PEG)-6000 to induce salinity and drought stress, respectively, provoking a drop to −1.7 MPa in leaf water potential. The whole plant physiology and metabolism was explored by characterizing the stress responses at root, phloem sap and leaf organ level. PEG treatment led to some typical responses of plants to drought stress, but in addition to PEG uptake, an important impairment of nutrient uptake and a different regulation of carbon metabolism could be observed compared to No-W plants. No-W plants showed an important redistribution of antioxidants and assimilates to the root tissue, with a distinctive increase in root proline degradation and alkaline invertase activity. On the contrary, salinity provoked an increase in leaf starch and isocitrate dehydrogenase activity, suggesting key roles in the plant response to this stress. Overall, results suggest higher protection of salt-stressed shoots and non-irrigated roots through different mechanisms, including the regulation of proline and carbon metabolism, while discarding PEG as safe mimicker of drought. This raises the need to understand the effect at the whole plant level of the different strategies employed to apply water-deficit stress.


1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shmuel Wolf ◽  
William J. Lucas

The function of the 30-kilodalton movement protein (MP) of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is to facilitate cell-to-cell movement of viral progeny in infected plants. Our earlier findings have indicated that this protein has a direct effect on plasmodesmal function. In addition, these studies demonstrated that constitutive expression of the TMV MP gene (under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter) in transgenic tobacco plants significantly affects carbon metabolism in source leaves and alters the biomass distribution between the various plant organs. The long-term goal of the proposed research was to better understand the factors controlling carbon translocation in plants. The specific objectives were: A) To introduce into tobacco and potato plants a virally-encoded (TMV-MP) gene that affects plasmodesmal functioning and photosynthate partitioning under tissue-specific promoters. B) To introduce into tobacco and potato plants the TMV-MP gene under the control of promoters which are tightly repressed by the Tn10-encoded Tet repressor, to enable the expression of the protein by external application of tetracycline. C) To explore the mechanism by which the TMV-MP interacts with the endogenous control o~ carbon allocation. Data obtained in our previous project together with the results of this current study established that the TMV-MP has pleiotropic effects when expressed in transgenic tobacco plants. In addition to its ability to increase the plasmodesmal size exclusion limit, it alters carbohydrate metabolism in source leaves and dry matter partitioning between the various plant organs, Expression of the TMV-MP in various tissues of transgenic potato plants indicated that sugars and starch levels in source leaves are reduced below those of control plants when the TMV-MP is expressed in green tissue only. However, when the TMV-MP was expressed predominantly in PP and CC, sugar and starch levels were raised above those of control plants. Perhaps the most significant result obtained from experiments performed on transgenic potato plants was the discovery that the influence of the TMV-MP on carbohydrate allocation within source leaves was under developmental control and was exerted only during tuber development. The complexity of the mode by which the TMV-MP exerts its effect on the process of carbohydrate allocation was further demonstrated when transgenic tobacco plants were subjected to environmental stresses such as drought stress and nutrients deficiencies, Collectively, these studies indicated that the influence of the TMV-MP on carbon allocation L the result of protein-protein interaction within the source tissue. Based on these results, together with the findings that plasmodesmata potentiate the cell-to-cell trafficking of viral and endogenous proteins and nucleoproteins complexes, we developed the theme that at the whole plant level, the phloem serves as an information superhighway. Such a long-distance communication system may utilize a new class of signaling molecules (proteins and/or RNA) to co-ordinate photosynthesis and carbon/nitrogen metabolism in source leaves with the complex growth requirements of the plant under the prevailing environmental conditions. The discovery that expression of viral MP in plants can induce precise changes in carbon metabolism and photoassimilate allocation, now provide a conceptual foundation for future studies aimed at elucidating the communication network responsible for integrating photosynthetic productivity with resource allocation at the whole-plant level. Such information will surely provide an understanding of how plants coordinate the essential physiological functions performed by distantly-separated organs. Identification of the proteins involved in mediating and controlling cell-to-cell transport, especially at the companion cell-sieve element boundary, will provide an important first step towards achieving this goal.


1997 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christy L. Sprague ◽  
Edward W. Stoller ◽  
Loyd M. Wax

Five biotypes of common cocklebur that were not controlled with acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides were tested in greenhouse and laboratory studies to determine the magnitude of resistance and cross-resistance to four ALS-inhibiting herbicides. In vivo inhibition of ALS was also evaluated. Based on phytotoxicity, all five ALS-resistant biotypes of common cocklebur were > 390 times more resistant than the susceptible biotype to imazethapyr. However, only four of these biotypes were also resistant to another imidazolinone, imazaquin. Two biotypes were cross-resistant to the sulfonylurea, chlorimuron, and the triazolopyrimidine sulfonanilide, NAF-75. One biotype demonstrated intermediate susceptibility to imazaquin, chlorimuron, and NAF-75. In all cases, the resistance exhibited at the whole plant level was associated with an insensitive ALS.


2013 ◽  
Vol 765-767 ◽  
pp. 2971-2975 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Gong ◽  
Ming Li Liu ◽  
Li Jun Zhang ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
Che Wang

Sucrose transporters (SUCs or SUTs) are considered as the important carriers and responsible for the loading, unloading and distribution of sucrose, but at present there is no report that SUCs are involved in sucrose distribution and metabolism under drought stress at the whole-plant level. AtSUC4, as the unique member of SUT4-clade inArabidopsis thaliana, may be important for plant stress tolerance. Here, by analyzing two homozygous mutation lines ofAtSUC4(Atsuc4-1andAtsuc4-2), we found drought stress induced higher sucrose, lower fructose and glucose contents in shoots, and lower sucrose, higher fructose and glucose contents in roots of these mutants compared with the wild-type (WT), leading to an imbalance of sucrose distribution, fructose and glucose (sucrose metabolites) accumulation changes at the whole-plant level. Thus we believe thatAtSUC4regulates sucrose distribution and metabolism in response to drought stress.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adalberto Di Benedetto ◽  
Claudio Galmarini ◽  
Jorge Tognetti

ABSTRACT Climbing Epipremnum aureum plants develop larger leaves than unsupported, hanging plants. This effect may be regarded, in part, as a thigmomorphogenic response, but gravimorphogenetic effect may also be involved, since polar auxin transport is known to be negatively affected in plants with horizontal or hanging stems, which may result in an altered hormone balance at the whole plant level. The present work was aimed at studying how exogenous auxins and cytokinins may influence growth of E. aureum rooted cuttings under different training systems. Rooted cuttings of E. aureum were cultivated either climbing on an upright wooden board or creeping on the glasshouse bench or hanging from a basket. All leaves of each plant were sprayed to run-off at sunset with four indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) doses 7 days after transplanting and one week later, with four benzylaminopurine (BAP) concentrations, rendering 16 hormone combination treatments. The application of IAA or BAP at 50 mg L-1 to creeping and hanging plants significantly promoted growth but, in climbing plants, a negative effect was generally observed. Changes in net assimilation and photosynthetic rates, together with modified allometric coefficients, accounted for these responses. The higher growth promotion by exogenous growth regulators observed in creeping or hanging plants compared to climbing plants, may be interpreted mostly as a gravimorphogenetic response.


Author(s):  
Manutsawan Manokieng ◽  
◽  
Arunothai Jampeetong ◽  

Abstract The effects of supplemental cations on growth, nitrogen, and mineral accumulation were assessed in Canna indica L. Similar sized 45 days-old plants were grown on a nutrient solution modified from Hoagland and Arnon (1950). The different cations were added to generate 6 treatments (n=4): (i) control (no cation added), (ii) 2.5 mM K+, (iii) 2.5 mM Ca2+, (iv) 75 mM Na+, (v) 1.25 mM K+ + 1.25 mM Ca2+ and (vi) 2.5 mM Ca2+ + 75 mM Na+, respectively. An experiment was carried out in the greenhouse for 49 days. The study found that supplemental K+ and K++ Ca2+ increased plant growth and total biomass. The highest SER was found in plants receiving supplemental K+. In contrast, SERs, leaf areas, and total biomass decreased in Na+ or Na++Ca2+ supplemented plants. The accumulated NO3- concentration (at the whole plant level) was also highest in the plants with supplemental K+ and K++Ca2+. The total nitrogen accumulation was higher in the K+, Ca2+, and K++Ca2+ supplemented plants than in the control plants. The results suggest that supplemental cations particularly K+ can enhance plant growth and nitrogen accumulation in C. indica. Therefore, cation supplementation could be an alternative technique to stimulate plant growth and improve nitrate removal in constructed wetlands. Keywords: Constructed wetland, Nitrate removal, Potassium, Tropical wetland plants


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Siles ◽  
Kirsty L. Hassall ◽  
Cristina Sanchis Gritsch ◽  
Peter J. Eastmond ◽  
Smita Kurup

Seed yield is a complex trait for many crop species including oilseed rape (OSR) (Brassica napus), the second most important oilseed crop worldwide. Studies have focused on the contribution of distinct factors in seed yield such as environmental cues, agronomical practices, growth conditions, or specific phenotypic traits at the whole plant level, such as number of pods in a plant. However, how female reproductive traits contribute to whole plant level traits, and hence to seed yield, has been largely ignored. Here, we describe the combined contribution of 33 phenotypic traits within a B. napus diversity set population and their trade-offs at the whole plant and organ level, along with their interaction with plant level traits. Our results revealed that both Winter OSR (WOSR) and Spring OSR (SOSR); the two more economically important OSR groups in terms of oil production; share a common dominant reproductive strategy for seed yield. In this strategy, the main inflorescence is the principal source of seed yield, producing a good number of ovules, a large number of long pods with a concomitantly high number of seeds per pod. Moreover, we observed that WOSR opted for additional reproductive strategies than SOSR, presenting more plasticity to maximise seed yield. Overall, we conclude that OSR adopts a key strategy to ensure maximal seed yield and propose an ideal ideotype highlighting crucial phenotypic traits that could be potential targets for breeding.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Χρυσάνθη Καλλονιάτη

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes takes place in specialized organs called nodules,which become the main source of assimilated nitrogen for the whole plant. Symbiotic nitro‐gen fixation requires exquisite integration of plant and bacterial metabolism and involvesglobal changes in gene expression and metabolite accumulation in both rhizobia and thehost plant. In order to study the metabolic changes mediated by symbiotic nitrogen fixationon a whole‐plant level, metabolite levels were profiled by gas chromatography–mass spec‐trometry in nodules and non‐symbiotic organs of Lotus japonicus plants uninoculated or in‐oculated with M. loti wt,  ΔnifA or  ΔnifH fix‐ strains. Furthermore, transcriptomic andbiochemical approaches were combined to study sulfur metabolism in nodules, its link tosymbiotic nitrogen fixation, and the effect of nodules on whole‐plant sulfur partitioning andmetabolism. It is well established that nitrogen and sulfur (S) metabolism are tightly en‐twined and sulfur is required for symbiotic nitrogen fixation, however, little is known aboutthe molecular and biochemical mechanisms governing sulfur uptake and assimilation duringsymbiotic nitrogen fixation. Transcript profiling in Lotus japonicus was combined with quan‐tification of S‐metabolite contents and APR activity in nodules and in non‐symbiotic organsof plants uninoculated or inoculated with M. loti wt, ΔnifA or ΔnifH fix‐ strains. Moreover,sulfate uptake and its distribution into different plant organs were analyzed and 35S‐flux intodifferent S‐pools was monitored. Metabolite profiling revealed that symbiotic nitrogen fixa‐tion results in dramatic changes of many aspects of primary and secondary metabolism innodules which leads to global reprogramming of metabolism of the model legume on awhole‐plant level. Moreover, our data revealed that nitrogen fixing nodules represent athiol‐rich organ. Their high APR activity and 35S‐flux into cysteine and its metabolites in com‐bination with the transcriptional up‐regulation of several genes involved in sulfur assimila‐tion highlight the function of nodules as a new site of sulfur assimilation. The higher thiolcontent observed in non‐symbiotic organs of nitrogen fixing plants in comparison touninoculated plants cannot be attributed to local biosynthesis, indicating that nodules couldserve as a novel source of reduced sulfur for the plant, which triggers whole‐plant repro‐gramming of sulfur metabolism. Interestingly, the changes in metabolite profiling and theenhanced thiol biosynthesis in nodules and their impact on the whole‐plant sulfur, carbonand nitrogen economy are dampened in fix‐ plants, which in most respects metabolically re‐sembled uninoculated plants, indicating a strong interaction between nitrogen fixation andsulfur and carbon metabolism.


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