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Chen L, Ghannoum O, Furbank RT. Sugar sensing in C4 source leaves: a gap that needs to be filled. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2024; 75:3818-3834. [PMID: 38642398 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erae166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
Plant growth depends on sugar production and export by photosynthesizing source leaves and sugar allocation and import by sink tissues (grains, roots, stems, and young leaves). Photosynthesis and sink demand are tightly coordinated through metabolic (substrate, allosteric) feedback and signalling (sugar, hormones) mechanisms. Sugar signalling integrates sugar production with plant development and environmental cues. In C3 plants (e.g. wheat and rice), it is well documented that sugar accumulation in source leaves, due to source-sink imbalance, negatively feeds back on photosynthesis and plant productivity. However, we have a limited understanding about the molecular mechanisms underlying those feedback regulations, especially in C4 plants (e.g. maize, sorghum, and sugarcane). Recent work with the C4 model plant Setaria viridis suggested that C4 leaves have different sugar sensing thresholds and behaviours relative to C3 counterparts. Addressing this research priority is critical because improving crop yield requires a better understanding of how plants coordinate source activity with sink demand. Here we review the literature, present a model of action for sugar sensing in C4 source leaves, and suggest ways forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lily Chen
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, NSW, 2753, Australia
| | - Oula Ghannoum
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, NSW, 2753, Australia
| | - Robert T Furbank
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
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Chen L, Yang Y, Zhao Z, Lu S, Lu Q, Cui C, Parry MAJ, Hu YG. Genome-wide identification and comparative analyses of key genes involved in C 4 photosynthesis in five main gramineous crops. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1134170. [PMID: 36993845 PMCID: PMC10040670 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1134170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2022] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Compared to C3 species, C4 plants showed higher photosynthetic capacity as well as water and nitrogen use efficiency due to the presence of the C4 photosynthetic pathway. Previous studies have shown that all genes required for the C4 photosynthetic pathway exist in the genomes of C3 species and are expressed. In this study, the genes encoding six key C4 photosynthetic pathway enzymes (β-CA, PEPC, ME, MDH, RbcS, and PPDK) in the genomes of five important gramineous crops (C4: maize, foxtail millet, and sorghum; C3: rice and wheat) were systematically identified and compared. Based on sequence characteristics and evolutionary relationships, their C4 functional gene copies were distinguished from non-photosynthetic functional gene copies. Furthermore, multiple sequence alignment revealed important sites affecting the activities of PEPC and RbcS between the C3 and C4 species. Comparisons of expression characteristics confirmed that the expression patterns of non-photosynthetic gene copies were relatively conserved among species, while C4 gene copies in C4 species acquired new tissue expression patterns during evolution. Additionally, multiple sequence features that may affect C4 gene expression and subcellular localization were found in the coding and promoter regions. Our work emphasized the diversity of the evolution of different genes in the C4 photosynthetic pathway and confirmed that the specific high expression in the leaf and appropriate intracellular distribution were the keys to the evolution of C4 photosynthesis. The results of this study will help determine the evolutionary mechanism of the C4 photosynthetic pathway in Gramineae and provide references for the transformation of C4 photosynthetic pathways in wheat, rice, and other major C3 cereal crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
| | - Yang Yang
- College of Agriculture, Shannxi Agricultural University (Institute of Crop Sciences), Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | - Zhangchen Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
| | - Shan Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
| | - Qiumei Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
| | - Chunge Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
| | - Martin A. J. Parry
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
| | - Yin-Gang Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
- Institute of Water Saving Agriculture in Arid Regions of China, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China
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Amy Lyu MJ, Tang Q, Wang Y, Essemine J, Chen F, Ni X, Chen G, Zhu XG. Evolution of gene regulatory network of C 4 photosynthesis in the genus Flaveria reveals the evolutionary status of C 3-C 4 intermediate species. PLANT COMMUNICATIONS 2023; 4:100426. [PMID: 35986514 PMCID: PMC9860191 DOI: 10.1016/j.xplc.2022.100426] [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: 03/15/2022] [Revised: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
C4 photosynthesis evolved from ancestral C3 photosynthesis by recruiting pre-existing genes to fulfill new functions. The enzymes and transporters required for the C4 metabolic pathway have been intensively studied and well documented; however, the transcription factors (TFs) that regulate these C4 metabolic genes are not yet well understood. In particular, how the TF regulatory network of C4 metabolic genes was rewired during the evolutionary process is unclear. Here, we constructed gene regulatory networks (GRNs) for four closely evolutionarily related species from the genus Flaveria, which represent four different evolutionary stages of C4 photosynthesis: C3 (F. robusta), type I C3-C4 (F. sonorensis), type II C3-C4 (F. ramosissima), and C4 (F. trinervia). Our results show that more than half of the co-regulatory relationships between TFs and core C4 metabolic genes are species specific. The counterparts of the C4 genes in C3 species were already co-regulated with photosynthesis-related genes, whereas the required TFs for C4 photosynthesis were recruited later. The TFs involved in C4 photosynthesis were widely recruited in the type I C3-C4 species; nevertheless, type II C3-C4 species showed a divergent GRN from C4 species. In line with these findings, a 13CO2 pulse-labeling experiment showed that the CO2 initially fixed into C4 acid was not directly released to the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle in the type II C3-C4 species. Therefore, our study uncovered dynamic changes in C4 genes and TF co-regulation during the evolutionary process; furthermore, we showed that the metabolic pathway of the type II C3-C4 species F. ramosissima represents an alternative evolutionary solution to the ammonia imbalance in C3-C4 intermediate species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Ju Amy Lyu
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Qiming Tang
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
| | - Yanjie Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
| | - Jemaa Essemine
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Faming Chen
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaoxiang Ni
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
| | - Genyun Chen
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Xin-Guang Zhu
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
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Kuhnert F, Schlüter U, Linka N, Eisenhut M. Transport Proteins Enabling Plant Photorespiratory Metabolism. PLANTS 2021; 10:plants10050880. [PMID: 33925393 PMCID: PMC8146403 DOI: 10.3390/plants10050880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2021] [Revised: 04/19/2021] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Photorespiration (PR) is a metabolic repair pathway that acts in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms to degrade a toxic product of oxygen fixation generated by the enzyme ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. Within the metabolic pathway, energy is consumed and carbon dioxide released. Consequently, PR is seen as a wasteful process making it a promising target for engineering to enhance plant productivity. Transport and channel proteins connect the organelles accomplishing the PR pathway-chloroplast, peroxisome, and mitochondrion-and thus enable efficient flux of PR metabolites. Although the pathway and the enzymes catalyzing the biochemical reactions have been the focus of research for the last several decades, the knowledge about transport proteins involved in PR is still limited. This review presents a timely state of knowledge with regard to metabolite channeling in PR and the participating proteins. The significance of transporters for implementation of synthetic bypasses to PR is highlighted. As an excursion, the physiological contribution of transport proteins that are involved in C4 metabolism is discussed.
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