Dataset Information

Can the exceptional chilling tolerance of C4 photosynthesis found in Miscanthus?×?giganteus be exceeded? Screening of a novel Miscanthus Japanese germplasm collection.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

A clone of the hybrid perennial C4 grass Miscanthus?×?giganteus (Mxg) is known for achieving exceptionally high rates of leaf CO2 uptake during chilling. This is a requisite of success in the early spring, as is the ability of the leaves to survive occasional frosts. The aim of this study was to search for genotypes with greater potential than Mxg for photosynthesis and frost survival under these conditions.

Methods

A total of 864 accessions representing 164 local populations of M. sacchariflorus (Msa), M. sinensis (Msi) and M. tinctorius (Mti) collected across Japan were studied. Accessions whose leaves survived a natural late frost in the field were screened for high maximum photosystem II efficiency (Fv/Fm) following chilling weather, as an indicator of their capacity for light-limited photosynthesis. Those showing the highest Fv/Fm were transferred to a high-light-controlled environment and maintained at chilling temperatures, where they were further screened for their capacities for high-light-limited and light-saturated leaf uptake of CO2 (?CO2,max and Asat, respectively).

Key results

For the first time, relatives of Mxg with significantly superior capacities for photosynthesis at chilling temperatures were identified. Msa accession '73/2' developed leaves in the spring that survived night-time frost, and during growth under chilling maintained a statistically significant 79 % higher ?CO2,max, as a measure of light-limited photosynthesis, and a 70 % higher Asat, as a measure of light-saturated photosynthesis. A second Msa accession, '73/3' also showed significantly higher rates of leaf uptake of CO2.

Conclusions

As remarkable as Mxg has proved in its chilling tolerance of C4 photosynthesis, this study shows that there is still value and potential in searching for yet more superior tolerance. Msa accession '73/2' shows rates of light-limited and light-saturated photosynthesis at chilling temperatures that are comparable with those of the most cold-tolerant C3 species. This adds further proof to the thesis that C4 photosynthesis is not inherently limited to warm climates.

SUBMITTER: Glowacka K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4407067 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Can the exceptional chilling tolerance of C4 photosynthesis found in Miscanthus × giganteus be exceeded? Screening of a novel Miscanthus Japanese germplasm collection.

Głowacka Katarzyna K Jørgensen Uffe U Kjeldsen Jens B JB Kørup Kirsten K Spitz Idan I Sacks Erik J EJ Long Stephen P SP

Annals of botany 20150407 6

<h4>Background and aims</h4>A clone of the hybrid perennial C4 grass Miscanthus × giganteus (Mxg) is known for achieving exceptionally high rates of leaf CO2 uptake during chilling. This is a requisite of success in the early spring, as is the ability of the leaves to survive occasional frosts. The aim of this study was to search for genotypes with greater potential than Mxg for photosynthesis and frost survival under these conditions.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 864 accessions representing 164 lo ...[more]

PMID: 25851133

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Project description:Small RNAs (21-24 nt) are pivotal regulators of gene expression that guide both transcriptional and post-transcriptional silencing mechanisms in diverse eukaryotes, including most if not all plants. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are the two major types, both of which have a demonstrated and important role in plant development, stress responses and pathogen resistance. In this work, we used a deep sequencing approach (Sequencing-By-Synthesis, or SBS) to develop sequence resources of small RNAs from different Miscanthus x giganteus tissues (including leaves, flowers, and rhizomes). The high depth of the resulting datasets enabled us to examine in detail critical small RNA features such as size distribution, tissue-specific regulation and sequence conservation between different organs in this species. We also developed database resources and a dedicated website (http://smallrna.udel.edu/) with computational tools for allowing other users to identify new miRNAs or siRNAs involved in specific regulatory pathways, verify the degree of conservation of these sequences in other plant species and map small RNAs on genes or larger regions of the genome under study. Small RNA libraries were derived from leaves, flowers and rhizomes of Miscanthus x giganteus. Each tissue represented a mixture of developmental stages, with a bias towards those from early, actively differentiating cells. For rhizomes, the apical tip portion was collected. Total RNA was isolated using the Plant RNA Purification Reagent (Invitrogen) and submitted to Illumina (Hayward, CA, http://www.illumina.com) for small RNA library construction using approaches described in (Lu et al., 2007) with minor modifications. The small RNA libraries were sequenced with the Sequencing-By-Synthesis (SBS) technology by Illumina. PERL scripts were designed to remove the adapter sequences and determine the abundance of each distinct small RNA. We thank Steven Moose for providing the plant material and Kan Nobuta for assistance with the computational methods.