evaluation-photosynthetic-efficiency-photorespiratory-mutants

Evaluation of Photosynthetic Efficiency in Photorespiratory Mutants by Chlorophyll Fluorescence Analysis

Photosynthesis and photorespiration represent the largest carbon fluxes in plant primary metabolism and are necessary for plant survival. Many of the ...

Louisiana State University

The indiscriminate use of nitrogenous fertilizers continues unabated for commercial crop production, resulting in air and water pollution. The development of rice varieties with enhanced nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) will require a thorough understanding of the molecular basis of a plant's response to low nitrogen (N) availability. The global expression profiles of root tissues collected from low and high N treatments at different time points in two rice genotypes, Pokkali and Bengal, with contrasting responses to N stress and contrasting root architectures were examined. Overall, the number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in Pokkali () was higher than in Bengal () during low N and early N recovery treatments. Most low N DEGs in both genotypes were downregulated whereas early N recovery DEGs were upregulated. Of these, 148 Pokkali-specific DEGs might contribute to Pokkali's advantage under N stress. These DEGs included transcription factors and transporters and were involved in stress responses, growth and development, regulation, and metabolism. Many DEGs are co-localized with quantitative trait loci (QTL) related to root growth and development, chlorate-resistance, and NUE. Our findings suggest that the superior growth performance of Pokkali under low N conditions could be due to the genetic differences in a diverse set of genes influencing N uptake through the regulation of root architecture.

Comparative Transcriptomics of Rice Genotypes with Contrasting Responses to Nitrogen Stress Reveals Genes Influencing Nitrogen Uptake through the Regulation of Root Architecture.

Plant architecture is critical for enhancing the adaptability and productivity of crop plants. Mutants with an altered plant architecture allow researchers to elucidate the genetic network and the underlying mechanisms. In this study, we characterized a novel  rice mutant with short height, small panicle, and narrow and thick deep green leaves that was identified from a cross between a rice cultivar and a weedy rice accession. Bulked segregant analysis coupled with genome re-sequencing and cosegregation analysis revealed that the overall mutant phenotype was caused by a 1395-bp deletion spanning over the last two exons including the transcriptional end site of the  gene. This deletion resulted in chimeric transcripts involving  and the adjacent gene, which were validated by a reference-guided assembly of transcripts followed by PCR amplification. A comparative transcriptome analysis of the mutant and the wild-type rice revealed 263 differentially expressed genes involved in cell division, cell expansion, photosynthesis, reproduction, and gibberellin (GA) and brassinosteroids (BR) signaling pathways, suggesting the important regulatory role of  Our study indicated that  controls plant architecture through the regulation of genes involved in the photosynthetic apparatus, cell cycle, and GA and BR signaling pathways.

A Novel Mutation of the  Gene Adversely Affects Plant Architecture in Rice ( L.).

Flowering is a key agronomic trait that influences adaptation and productivity. Previous studies have indicated the genetic complexity associated with the flowering response in a photoinsensitive weedy rice accession PSRR-1 despite the presence of a photosensitive allele of a key flowering gene . In this study, we used whole-genome and RNA sequencing data from both cultivated and weedy rice to add further insights. The  assembly of unaligned sequences predicted 225 genes, in which 45 were specific to PSRR-1, including two genes associated with flowering. Comparison of the variants in PSRR-1 with the 3K rice genome (RG) dataset identified unique variants within the heading date QTLs. Analyses of the RNA-Seq result under both short-day (SD) and long-day (LD) conditions revealed that many differentially expressed genes (DEGs) colocalized with the flowering QTLs, and some DEGs such as , , , and  had unique variants in PSRR-1. , , , and  showed different alternate splicing (AS) events between genotypes and day length conditions.  was expressed in PSRR-1 but not in Cypress under both LD and SD conditions. Based on variations in both sequence and expression, the unique flowering response in PSRR-1 may be due to the high-impact variants of flowering genes, and  is proposed as a key regulator for its day-neutral flowering response.

Richard Garcia

Department of Biological Sciences

Louisiana State University

Evaluation of Photosynthetic Efficiency in Photorespiratory Mutants by Chlorophyll Fluorescence Analysis