Delaying chloroplast turnover increases water-deficit stress tolerance through the enhancement of nitrogen assimilation in rice

Nir Sade, Kamolchanok Umnajkitikorn, Maria Del Mar Rubio Wilhelmi, Matthew Wright, Songhu Wang, Eduardo Blumwald

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Abiotic stress-induced senescence in crops is a process particularly affecting the photosynthetic apparatus, decreasing photosynthetic activity and inducing chloroplast degradation. A pathway for stress-induced chloroplast degradation that involves the CHLOROPLAST VESICULATION (CV) gene was characterized in rice (Oryza sativa) plants. OsCV expression was up-regulated with the age of the plants and when plants were exposed to water-deficit conditions. The down-regulation of OsCV expression contributed to the maintenance of the chloroplast integrity under stress. OsCV-silenced plants displayed enhanced source fitness (i.e. carbon and nitrogen assimilation) and photorespiration, leading to water-deficit stress tolerance. Co-immunoprecipitation, intracellular co-localization, and bimolecular fluorescence demonstrated the in vivo interaction between OsCV and chloroplastic glutamine synthetase (OsGS2), affecting source-sink relationships of the plants under stress. Our results would indicate that the OsCV-mediated chloroplast degradation pathway is involved in the regulation of nitrogen assimilation during stress-induced plant senescence.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)867-878
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Experimental Botany
Volume69
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 12 Feb 2018
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Chloroplast Vesiculation
  • Nitrogen assimilation
  • photorespiration
  • photosynthesis
  • stress-induced senescence
  • water stress

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Physiology
  • Plant Science

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