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Santos TDO, Amaral Junior ATD, Bispo RB, Bernado WDP, Simão BR, de Lima VJ, Freitas MSM, Mora-Poblete F, Trindade RDS, Kamphorst SH, Pereira Rodrigues W, Campostrini E, Nicácio Viana F, Cruz CD. Exploring the Potential of Heterosis to Improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Popcorn Plants. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:plants12112135. [PMID: 37299114 DOI: 10.3390/plants12112135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Nitrogen is crucial for plant growth and development, and improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is a viable strategy for reducing dependence on nitrogen inputs and promoting sustainability. While the benefits of heterosis in corn are well known, the physiological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon in popcorn are less understood. We aimed to investigate the effects of heterosis on growth and physiological traits in four popcorn lines and their hybrids under two contrasting nitrogen conditions. We evaluated morpho-agronomic and physiological traits such as leaf pigments, the maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII, and leaf gas exchange. Components associated with NUE were also evaluated. N deprivation caused reductions of up to 65% in terms of plant architecture, 37% in terms of leaf pigments, and 42% in terms of photosynthesis-related traits. Heterosis had significant effects on growth traits, NUE, and foliar pigments, particularly under low soil nitrogen conditions. N-utilization efficiency was found to be the mechanism favoring superior hybrid performance for NUE. Non-additive genetic effects were predominant in controlling the studied traits, indicating that exploring heterosis is the most effective strategy for obtaining superior hybrids to promote NUE. The findings are relevant and beneficial for agro farmers seeking sustainable agricultural practices and improved crop productivity through the optimization of nitrogen utilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talles de Oliveira Santos
- Center for Plant Science Innovation, Department of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0664, USA
- Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Center for Agricultural Sciences and Technologies (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013-602, RJ, Brazil
| | - Antônio Teixeira do Amaral Junior
- Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Center for Agricultural Sciences and Technologies (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013-602, RJ, Brazil
| | - Rosimeire Barboza Bispo
- Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Center for Agricultural Sciences and Technologies (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013-602, RJ, Brazil
- Proteomics and Metabolomics Facilities, Nebraska Center for Biotechnology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0664, USA
| | - Wallace de Paula Bernado
- Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Center for Agricultural Sciences and Technologies (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013-602, RJ, Brazil
| | - Bruna Rohem Simão
- Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Center for Agricultural Sciences and Technologies (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013-602, RJ, Brazil
| | - Valter Jário de Lima
- Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Center for Agricultural Sciences and Technologies (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013-602, RJ, Brazil
| | - Marta Simone Mendonça Freitas
- Plant Science Laboratory, Center for Agricultural Science and Technologies, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013-602, RJ, Brazil
| | - Freddy Mora-Poblete
- Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Talca, 1 Poniente 1141, Talca 3460000, Chile
| | - Roberto Dos Santos Trindade
- National Research Center for Maize and Sorghum, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, MG-424 Highway, Km 45, Sete Lagoas 35701-970, MG, Brazil
| | - Samuel Henrique Kamphorst
- Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Center for Agricultural Sciences and Technologies (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013-602, RJ, Brazil
| | - Weverton Pereira Rodrigues
- Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Naturais e Letras, Universidade Estadual da Região Tocantina do Maranhão (UEMASUL), Estreito 65975-000, MA, Brazil
| | - Eliemar Campostrini
- Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Center for Agricultural Sciences and Technologies (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013-602, RJ, Brazil
| | - Flávia Nicácio Viana
- Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Center for Agricultural Sciences and Technologies (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013-602, RJ, Brazil
| | - Cosme Damião Cruz
- Laboratory of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Center for Agricultural Sciences and Technologies (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013-602, RJ, Brazil
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Ozawa SI, Buchert F, Reuys R, Hippler M, Takahashi Y. Algal PETC-Pro171-Leu suppresses electron transfer in cytochrome b6f under acidic lumenal conditions. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2023; 191:1803-1817. [PMID: 36516417 PMCID: PMC10022631 DOI: 10.1093/plphys/kiac575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Linear photosynthetic electron flow (LEF) produces NADPH and generates a proton electrochemical potential gradient across the thylakoid membrane to synthesize ATP, both of which are required for CO2 fixation. As cellular demand for ATP and NADPH varies, cyclic electron flow (CEF) between Photosystem I and the cytochrome b6f complex (b6f) produces extra ATP. b6f regulates LEF and CEF via photosynthetic control, which is a pH-dependent b6f slowdown of plastoquinol oxidation at the lumenal site. This protection mechanism is triggered at more alkaline lumen pH in the pgr1 (proton gradient regulation 1) mutant of the vascular plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), which contains a Pro194Leu substitution in the b6f Rieske Iron-sulfur protein Photosynthetic Electron Transfer C (PETC) subunit. In this work, we introduced the equivalent pgr1 mutation in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to generate PETC-P171L. Consistent with the pgr1 phenotype, PETC-P171L displayed impaired NPQ induction along with slower photoautotrophic growth under high light conditions. Our data provide evidence that the ΔpH component in PETC-P171L depends on oxygen availability. Only under low oxygen conditions was the ΔpH component sufficient to trigger a phenotype in algal PETC-P171L where the mutant b6f was more restricted to oxidize the plastoquinol pool and showed diminished electron flow through the b6f complex. These results demonstrate that photosynthetic control of different stringency are established in C. reinhardtii depending on the cellular metabolism, and the lumen pH-sensitive PETC-P171L was generated to read out various associated effects.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Felix Buchert
- Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, University of Münster, 48143 Münster, Germany
| | - Ruby Reuys
- Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, University of Münster, 48143 Münster, Germany
| | - Michael Hippler
- Institute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University, Kurashiki 710-0046, Japan
- Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, University of Münster, 48143 Münster, Germany
| | - Yuichiro Takahashi
- Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
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Li N, Wong WS, Feng L, Wang C, Wong KS, Zhang N, Yang W, Jiang Y, Jiang L, He JX. The thylakoid membrane protein NTA1 is an assembly factor of the cytochrome b 6f complex essential for chloroplast development in Arabidopsis. PLANT COMMUNICATIONS 2023; 4:100509. [PMID: 36560880 PMCID: PMC9860185 DOI: 10.1016/j.xplc.2022.100509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The cytochrome b6f (Cyt b6f) complex is a multisubunit protein complex in chloroplast thylakoid membranes required for photosynthetic electron transport. Here we report the isolation and characterization of the new tiny albino 1 (nta1) mutant in Arabidopsis, which has severe defects in Cyt b6f accumulation and chloroplast development. Gene cloning revealed that the nta1 phenotype was caused by disruption of a single nuclear gene, NTA1, which encodes an integral thylakoid membrane protein conserved across green algae and plants. Overexpression of NTA1 completely rescued the nta1 phenotype, and knockout of NTA1 in wild-type plants recapitulated the mutant phenotype. Loss of NTA1 function severely impaired the accumulation of multiprotein complexes related to photosynthesis in thylakoid membranes, particularly the components of Cyt b6f. NTA1 was shown to directly interact with four subunits (Cyt b6/PetB, PetD, PetG, and PetN) of Cyt b6f through the DUF1279 domain and C-terminal sequence to mediate their assembly. Taken together, our results identify NTA1 as a new and key regulator of chloroplast development that plays essential roles in assembly of the Cyt b6f complex by interacting with multiple Cyt b6f subunits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Na Li
- School of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Wing Shing Wong
- School of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Lei Feng
- School of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Chunming Wang
- School of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - King Shing Wong
- School of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Nianhui Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resources and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Wei Yang
- School of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yueming Jiang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany & Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, Core Botanical Gardens, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Liwen Jiang
- School of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jun-Xian He
- School of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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Maize Breeding for Low Nitrogen Inputs in Agriculture: Mechanisms Underlying the Tolerance to the Abiotic Stress. STRESSES 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/stresses3010011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Nitrogen (N) is essential for sustaining life on Earth and plays a vital role in plant growth and thus agricultural production. The excessive use of N fertilizers not only harms the economy, but also the environment. In the context of the environmental impacts caused by agriculture, global maize improvement programs aim to develop cultivars with high N-use efficiency (NUE) to reduce the use of N fertilizers. Since N is highly mobile in plants, NUE is related to numerous little-known morphophysiological and molecular mechanisms. In this review paper we present an overview of the morpho-physiological adaptations of shoot and root, molecular mechanisms involved in plant response to low nitrogen environment, and the genetic effects involved in the control of key traits for NUE. Some studies show that the efficiency of cultivars growing under low N is related to deep root architecture, more lateral roots (LR), and sparser branching of LR, resulting in lower metabolic costs. The NUE cultivars also exhibit more efficient photosynthesis, which affects plant growth under suboptimal nitrogen conditions. In this sense, obtaining superior genotypes for NUE can be achieved with the exploitation of heterosis, as non-additive effects are more important in the expression of traits associated with NUE.
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Cryo-EM structures of the Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 cytochrome b6f complex with and without the regulatory PetP subunit. Biochem J 2022; 479:1487-1503. [PMID: 35726684 PMCID: PMC9342900 DOI: 10.1042/bcj20220124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
In oxygenic photosynthesis, the cytochrome b6f (cytb6f) complex links the linear electron transfer (LET) reactions occurring at photosystems I and II and generates a transmembrane proton gradient via the Q-cycle. In addition to this central role in LET, cytb6f also participates in a range of processes including cyclic electron transfer (CET), state transitions and photosynthetic control. Many of the regulatory roles of cytb6f are facilitated by auxiliary proteins that differ depending upon the species, yet because of their weak and transient nature the structural details of these interactions remain unknown. An apparent key player in the regulatory balance between LET and CET in cyanobacteria is PetP, a ∼10 kDa protein that is also found in red algae but not in green algae and plants. Here, we used cryogenic electron microscopy to determine the structure of the Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 cytb6f complex in the presence and absence of PetP. Our structures show that PetP interacts with the cytoplasmic side of cytb6f, displacing the C-terminus of the PetG subunit and shielding the C-terminus of cytochrome b6, which binds the heme cn cofactor that is suggested to mediate CET. The structures also highlight key differences in the mode of plastoquinone binding between cyanobacterial and plant cytb6f complexes, which we suggest may reflect the unique combination of photosynthetic and respiratory electron transfer in cyanobacterial thylakoid membranes. The structure of cytb6f from a model cyanobacterial species amenable to genetic engineering will enhance future site-directed mutagenesis studies of structure-function relationships in this crucial ET complex.
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