Skip to main content
PMC home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1995 Jan;107(1):215–224. doi: 10.1104/pp.107.1.215

Regulation of Photosynthesis during Leaf Development in RbcS Antisense DNA Mutants of Tobacco.

C Z Jiang 1, S R Rodermel 1
PMCID: PMC161189  PMID: 12228356

Abstract

We have previously characterized RbcS antisense DNA mutants of tobacco that have drastic reductions in their content of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco; S.R. Rodermel, M.S. Abbott, L. Bogorad [1988] Cell 55: 673-681). In this report we examine the impact of Rubisco loss on photosynthesis during tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) leaf development. Photosynthetic capacities are depressed in the antisense leaves, but the patterns of change in photosynthetic rates during the development of these leaves are similar to those in wild-type plants: after attaining a maximum in young leaves, photosynthetic capacities undergo a prolonged senescence decline in older leaves. The alterations in photosynthetic capacities in both the wild type and mutant are closely correlated with changes in Rubisco activity and content. During wild-type leaf development, Rubisco accumulation is regulated by coordinate changes in RbcS and rbcL transcript accumulation, whereas in the antisense leaves, Rubisco content is a function of RbcS, but not rbcL, transcript abundance. This indicates that large subunit protein production is controlled posttranscriptionally in the mutants. The antisense leaves accumulate near-normal levels of chlorophyll and representative photosynthetic proteins throughout development, suggesting that photosynthetic gene expression is not feedback regulated by Rubisco abundance. Considered together, the data in this paper indicate that leaf developmental programs are generally insensitive to sharp reductions in Rubisco content and emphasize the metabolic plasticity of plant cells in achieving optimal photosynthetic rates.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.5 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aharoni N., Lieberman M. Patterns of ehtylene production in senescing leaves. Plant Physiol. 1979 Nov;64(5):796–800. doi: 10.1104/pp.64.5.796. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Camp P. J., Huber S. C., Burke J. J., Moreland D. E. Biochemical Changes that Occur during Senescence of Wheat Leaves : I. Basis for the Reduction of Photosynthesis. Plant Physiol. 1982 Dec;70(6):1641–1646. doi: 10.1104/pp.70.6.1641. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ellis R. J., van der Vies S. M. Molecular chaperones. Annu Rev Biochem. 1991;60:321–347. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.60.070191.001541. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fling S. P., Gregerson D. S. Peptide and protein molecular weight determination by electrophoresis using a high-molarity tris buffer system without urea. Anal Biochem. 1986 May 15;155(1):83–88. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(86)90228-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ford D. M., Shibles R. Photosynthesis and Other Traits in Relation to Chloroplast Number during Soybean Leaf Senescence. Plant Physiol. 1988 Jan;86(1):108–111. doi: 10.1104/pp.86.1.108. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Guiamét J. J., Schwartz E., Pichersky E., Noodén L. D. Characterization of Cytoplasmic and Nuclear Mutations Affecting Chlorophyll and Chlorophyll-Binding Proteins during Senescence in Soybean. Plant Physiol. 1991 May;96(1):227–231. doi: 10.1104/pp.96.1.227. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Harris J. B., Arnott H. J. Effects of senescence on chloroplasts of the tobacco leaf. Tissue Cell. 1973;5(4):527–544. doi: 10.1016/s0040-8166(73)80043-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hensel L. L., Grbić V., Baumgarten D. A., Bleecker A. B. Developmental and age-related processes that influence the longevity and senescence of photosynthetic tissues in arabidopsis. Plant Cell. 1993 May;5(5):553–564. doi: 10.1105/tpc.5.5.553. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hudson G. S., Evans J. R., von Caemmerer S., Arvidsson Y. B., Andrews T. J. Reduction of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase content by antisense RNA reduces photosynthesis in transgenic tobacco plants. Plant Physiol. 1992 Jan;98(1):294–302. doi: 10.1104/pp.98.1.294. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Huffaker R. C. Proteolytic activity during senescence of plants. New Phytol. 1990;116:199–231. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1990.tb04710.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jiang C. Z., Rodermel S. R., Shibles R. M. Photosynthesis, Rubisco Activity and Amount, and Their Regulation by Transcription in Senescing Soybean Leaves. Plant Physiol. 1993 Jan;101(1):105–112. doi: 10.1104/pp.101.1.105. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Masle J., Hudson G. S., Badger M. R. Effects of Ambient CO2 Concentration on Growth and Nitrogen Use in Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) Plants Transformed with an Antisense Gene to the Small Subunit of Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase. Plant Physiol. 1993 Dec;103(4):1075–1088. doi: 10.1104/pp.103.4.1075. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Miziorko H. M., Lorimer G. H. Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase. Annu Rev Biochem. 1983;52:507–535. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.52.070183.002451. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Pinck M., Guilley E., Durr A., Hoff M., Pinck L., Fleck J. Complete sequence of one of the mRNAs coding for the small subunit of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase of Nicotiana sylvestris. Biochimie. 1984 Jul-Aug;66(7-8):539–545. doi: 10.1016/0300-9084(84)90148-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rodermel S. R., Abbott M. S., Bogorad L. Nuclear-organelle interactions: nuclear antisense gene inhibits ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase enzyme levels in transformed tobacco plants. Cell. 1988 Nov 18;55(4):673–681. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90226-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Servaites J. C., Shieh W. J., Geiger D. R. Regulation of photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle by ribulose bisphosphate and phosphoglyceric Acid. Plant Physiol. 1991 Nov;97(3):1115–1121. doi: 10.1104/pp.97.3.1115. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sheen J. Metabolic repression of transcription in higher plants. Plant Cell. 1990 Oct;2(10):1027–1038. doi: 10.1105/tpc.2.10.1027. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Shinozaki K., Sugiura M. The nucleotide sequence of the tobacco chloroplast gene for the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. Gene. 1982 Nov;20(1):91–102. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(82)90090-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sonnewald U., Willmitzer L. Molecular approaches to sink-source interactions. Plant Physiol. 1992 Aug;99(4):1267–1270. doi: 10.1104/pp.99.4.1267. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Ursin V. M., Shewmaker C. K. Demonstration of a Senescence Component in the Regulation of the Mannopine Synthase Promoter. Plant Physiol. 1993 Jul;102(3):1033–1036. doi: 10.1104/pp.102.3.1033. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Wittenbach V. A. Effect of pod removal on leaf photosynthesis and soluble protein composition of field-grown soybeans. Plant Physiol. 1983 Sep;73(1):121–124. doi: 10.1104/pp.73.1.121. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES