Eco-physiological studies on Indian arid zone plants: V. A. Screening of some species for the C4-pathway of photosynthetic CO2-fixation

Co-occurrence of geogenic and anthropogenic contaminants in groundwater from Rajasthan, India

Northwest India suffers from severe water scarcity issues due to a combination of over-exploitation and climate effects. Along with concerns over water availability, endemic water quality issues are critical and affect the usability of available water and potential human health risks. Here we present data from 243 groundwater wells, representing nine aquifer lithologies in 4 climate regions that were collected from the Northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan. Rajasthan is India's largest state by area, and has a significant groundwater reliant population due to a general lack of surface water accessibility. We show that the groundwater, including water that is used for drinking without any treatment, contains multiple inorganic contaminants in levels that exceed both Indian and World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water guidelines. The most egregious of these violations were for fluoride, nitrate, and uranium; 76% of all water samples in this study had contaminants levels that exceed the WHO guidelines for at least one of these species. In addition, we show that much of the groundwater contains high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and halides, both of which are risk factors for the formation of disinfectant byproducts in waters that are treated with chemical disinfectants such as chlorine. By using geochemical and isotopic (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, strontium, and boron isotopes) data, we show that the water quality issues derive from both geogenic (evapotranspiration, water-rock interactions) and anthropogenic (agriculture, domestic sewage) sources, though in some cases anthropogenic activities, such as infiltration of organic- and nitrate-rich water, may contribute to the persistence and enhanced mobilization of geogenic contaminants. The processes affecting Rajasthan's groundwater quality are common in many other worldwide arid areas, and the lessons learned from evaluation of the mechanisms that affect the groundwater quality are universal and should be applied for other parts of the world.

Phylogeny and photosynthetic pathway distribution in Anticharis Endl. (Scrophulariaceae)

C(4) photosynthesis independently evolved >62 times, with the majority of origins within 16 dicot families. One origin occurs in the poorly studied genus Anticharis Endl. (Scrophulariaceae), which consists of ~10 species from arid regions of Africa and southwest Asia. Here, the photosynthetic pathway of 10 Anticharis species and one species from each of the sister genera Aptosimum and Peliostomum was identified using carbon isotope ratios (δ(13)C). The photosynthetic pathway was then mapped onto an internal transcribed spacer (ITS) phylogeny of Anticharis and its sister genera. Leaf anatomy was examined for nine Anticharis species and plants from Aptosimum and Peliostomum. Leaf ultrastructure, gas exchange, and enzyme distributions were assessed in Anticharis glandulosa collected in SE Iran. The results demonstrate that C(3) photosynthesis is the ancestral condition, with C(4) photosynthesis occurring in one clade containing four species. C(4) Anticharis species exhibit the atriplicoid type of C(4) leaf anatomy and the NAD-malic enzyme biochemical subtype. Six Anticharis species had C(3) or C(3)-C(4) δ(13)C values and branched at phylogenetic nodes that were sister to the C(4) clade. The rest of Anticharis species had enlarged bundle sheath cells, close vein spacing, and clusters of chloroplasts along the centripetal (inner) bundle sheath walls. These traits indicate that basal-branching Anticharis species are evolutionary intermediates between the C(3) and C(4) conditions. Anticharis appears to be an important new group in which to study the dynamics of C(4) evolution.

C(4) eudicots are not younger than C(4) monocots

C(4) photosynthesis is a plant adaptation to high levels of photorespiration. Physiological models predict that atmospheric CO(2) concentration selected for C(4) grasses only after it dropped below a critical threshold during the Oligocene (∼30 Ma), a hypothesis supported by phylogenetic and molecular dating analyses. However the same models predict that CO(2) should have reached much lower levels before selecting for C(4) eudicots, making C(4) eudicots younger than C(4) grasses. In this study, different phylogenetic datasets were combined in order to conduct the first comparative analysis of the age of C(4) origins in eudicots. Our results suggested that all lineages of C(4) eudicots arose during the last 30 million years, with the earliest before 22 Ma in Chenopodiaceae and Aizoaceae, and the latest probably after 2 Ma in Flaveria. C(4) eudicots are thus not globally younger than C(4) monocots. All lineages of C(4) plants evolved in a similar low CO(2) atmosphere that predominated during the last 30 million years. Independent C(4) origins were probably driven by different combinations of specific factors, including local ecological characteristics such as habitat openness, aridity, and salinity, as well as the speciation and dispersal history of each clade. Neither the lower number of C(4) species nor the frequency of C(3)-C(4) intermediates in eudicots can be attributed to a more recent origin, but probably result from variation in diversification and evolutionary rates among the different groups that evolved the C(4) pathway.

The C(4) plant lineages of planet Earth

Using isotopic screens, phylogenetic assessments, and 45 years of physiological data, it is now possible to identify most of the evolutionary lineages expressing the C(4) photosynthetic pathway. Here, 62 recognizable lineages of C(4) photosynthesis are listed. Thirty-six lineages (60%) occur in the eudicots. Monocots account for 26 lineages, with a minimum of 18 lineages being present in the grass family and six in the sedge family. Species exhibiting the C(3)-C(4) intermediate type of photosynthesis correspond to 21 lineages. Of these, 9 are not immediately associated with any C(4) lineage, indicating that they did not share common C(3)-C(4) ancestors with C(4) species and are instead an independent line. The geographic centre of origin for 47 of the lineages could be estimated. These centres tend to cluster in areas corresponding to what are now arid to semi-arid regions of southwestern North America, south-central South America, central Asia, northeastern and southern Africa, and inland Australia. With 62 independent lineages, C(4) photosynthesis has to be considered one of the most convergent of the complex evolutionary phenomena on planet Earth, and is thus an outstanding system to study the mechanisms of evolutionary adaptation.

Diversity in forms of C4 in the genus Cleome (Cleomaceae)

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Cleomaceae is one of 19 angiosperm families in which C(4) photosynthesis has been reported. The aim of the study was to determine the type, and diversity, of structural and functional forms of C(4) in genus Cleome. Methods Plants of Cleome species were grown from seeds, and leaves were subjected to carbon isotope analysis, light and scanning electron microscopy, western blot analysis of proteins, and in situ immunolocalization for ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (Rubisco) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC).

KEY RESULTS

Three species with C(4)-type carbon isotope values occurring in separate lineages in the genus (Cleome angustifolia, C. gynandra and C. oxalidea) were shown to have features of C(4) photosynthesis in leaves and cotyledons. Immunolocalization studies show that PEPC is localized in mesophyll (M) cells and Rubisco is selectively localized in bundle sheath (BS) cells in leaves and cotyledons, characteristic of species with Kranz anatomy. Analyses of leaves for key photosynthetic enzymes show they have high expression of markers for the C(4) cycle (compared with the C(3)-C(4) intermediate C. paradoxa and the C(3) species C. africana). All three are biochemically NAD-malic enzyme sub-type, with higher granal development in BS than in M chloroplasts, characteristic of this biochemical sub-type. Cleome gynandra and C. oxalidea have atriplicoid-type Kranz anatomy with multiple simple Kranz units around individual veins. However, C. angustifolia anatomy is represented by a double layer of concentric chlorenchyma forming a single compound Kranz unit by surrounding all the vascular bundles and water storage cells.

CONCLUSIONS

NAD-malic enzyme-type C(4) photosynthesis evolved multiple times in the family Cleomaceae, twice with atriplicoid-type anatomy in compound leaves having flat, broad leaflets in the pantropical species C. gynandra and the Australian species C. oxalidea, and once by forming a single Kranz unit in compound leaves with semi-terete leaflets in the African species C. angustifolia. The leaf morphology of C. angustifolia, which is similar to that of the sister, C(3)-C(4) intermediate African species C. paradoxa, suggests adaptation of this lineage to arid environments, which is supported by biogeographical information.

Physiological, anatomical and biochemical characterisation of photosynthetic types in genus Cleome (Cleomaceae)

C₄ photosynthesis has evolved many times in 18 different families of land plants with great variation in leaf anatomy, ranging from various forms of Kranz anatomy to C₄ photosynthesis occurring within a single type of photosynthetic cell. There has been little research on photosynthetic typing in the family Cleomaceae, in which only one C₄ species has been identified, Cleome gynandra L. There is recent interest in selecting and developing a C₄ species from the family Cleomaceae as a model C₄ system, since it is the most closely related to Arabidopsis, a C₃ model system (Brown et al. 2005). From screening more than 230 samples of Cleomaceae species, based on a measure of the carbon isotope composition (δ¹³C) in leaves, we have identified two additional C₄ species, C. angustifolia Forssk. (Africa) and C. oxalidea F.Muell. (Australia). Several other species have δ¹³C values around -17‰ to -19‰, suggesting they are C₄-like or intermediate species. Eight species of Cleome were selected for physiological, anatomical and biochemical analyses. These included C. gynandra, a NAD-malic enzyme (NAD-ME) type C₄ species, C. paradoxa R.Br., a C₃-C₄ intermediate species, and 6 others which were characterised as C₃ species. Cleome gynandra has C₄ features based on low CO₂ compensation point (Γ), C₄ type δ¹³C values, Kranz-type leaf anatomy and bundle sheath (BS) ultrastructure, presence of C₄ pathway enzymes, and selective immunolocalisation of Rubisco and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. Cleome paradoxa was identified as a C₃-C₄ intermediate based on its intermediate Γ (27.5 μmol mol^-1), ultrastructural features and selective localisation of glycine decarboxylase of the photorespiratory pathway in mitochondria of BS cells. The other six species are C₃ plants based on Γ, δ¹³C values, non-Kranz leaf anatomy, and levels of C₄ pathway enzymes (very low or absent) typical of C₃ plants. The results indicate that this is an interesting family for studying the genetic basis for C₄ photosynthesis and its evolution from C₃ species.

C4 photosynthetic carbon metabolism in the leaves of aromatic tropical grasses - I. Leaf anatomy, CO2 compensation point and CO 2 assimilation

A few species of Cymbopogon and Vetiveria are potentially important tropical grasses producing essential oils. In the present study, we report on the leaf anatomy and photosynthetic carbon assimilation in five species of Cymbopogon and Vetiveria zizanioides. Kranz-type leaf anatomy with a centrifugal distribution of chloroplasts and exclusive localization of starch in the bundle sheath cells were common among the test plants. Besides the Kranz leaf anatomy, these grasses displayed other typical C4 characteristics including a low (0-5 µl/l) CO2 compensation point, lack of light saturation of CO2 uptake at high photon flux densities, high temperature (35°C) optimum of net photosynthesis, high rates of net photosynthesis (55-67 mg CO2 dm(-2) leaf area h(-1)), little or no response of net photosynthesis to atmospheric levels of O2 and high leaf (13)C/(12)C ratios. The biochemical studies with (14)CO2 indicated that the leaves of the above plant species synthesize predominantly malate during short term (5 s) photosynthesis. In pulse-chase experiments it was shown that the synthesis of 3-phosphoglycerate proceeds at the expense of malate, the major first formed product of photosynthesis in these plant species.

C4 photosynthesis in the vegetation of Aldabra Atoll

The occurrence of the C₄ photosynthetic system, based upon an examination of leaf anatomy, of nearly all species of the vegetation of Aldabra Atoll, western Indian Ocean, is reported. About 19% of the flora has the C₄ system. It only occurs in herbaceous plants, which grow either in grasslands or as an understorey to tall shrubs. Both C₃ and C₄ species compete side by side in the mixed-species communities.