Quantifying Light Response of Leaf-Scale Water-Use Efficiency and Its Interrelationships With Photosynthesis and Stomatal Conductance in C3 and C4 Species.

Light intensity (I) is the most dynamic and significant environmental variable affecting photosynthesis (A n), stomatal conductance (g s), transpiration (T r), and water-use efficiency (WUE). Currently, studies characterizing leaf-scale WUE-I responses are rare and key questions have not been answered. In particular, (1) What shape does the response function take? (2) Are there maximum intrinsic (WUEi; WUEi-max) and instantaneous WUE (WUEinst; WUEinst-max) at the corresponding saturation irradiances (I i-sat and I inst-sat)? This study developed WUEi-I and WUEinst-I models sharing the same non-asymptotic function with previously published A n-I and g s-I models. Observation-modeling intercomparison was conducted for field-grown plants of soybean (C3) and grain amaranth (C4) to assess the robustness of our models versus the non-rectangular hyperbola models (NH models). Both types of models can reproduce WUE-I curves well over light-limited range. However, at light-saturated range, NH models overestimated WUEi-max and WUEinst-max and cannot return I i-sat and I inst-sat due to its asymptotic function. Moreover, NH models cannot describe the down-regulation of WUE induced by high light, on which our models described well. The results showed that WUEi and WUEinst increased rapidly within low range of I, driven by uncoupled photosynthesis and stomatal responsiveness. Initial response rapidity of WUEi was higher than WUEinst because the greatest increase of A n and T r occurred at low g s. C4 species showed higher WUEi-max and WUEinst-max than C3 species-at similar I i-sat and I inst-sat. Our intercomparison highlighted larger discrepancy between WUEi-I and WUEinst-I responses in C3 than C4 species, quantitatively characterizing an important advantage of C4 photosynthetic pathway-higher A n gain but lower T r cost per unit of g s change. Our models can accurately return the wealth of key quantities defining species-specific WUE-I responses-besides A n-I and g s-I responses. The key advantage is its robustness in characterizing these entangled responses over a wide I range from light-limited to light-inhibitory light intensities, through adopting the same analytical framework and the explicit and consistent definitions on these responses. Our models are of significance for physiologists and modelers-and also for breeders screening for genotypes concurrently achieving maximized photosynthesis and optimized WUE.

Leaf transcriptome analysis of a subtropical evergreen broadleaf plant, wild oil-tea camellia (Camellia oleifera), revealing candidate genes for cold acclimation.

BACKGROUND: Cold tolerance is a key determinant of the geographical distribution range of a plant species and crop production. Cold acclimation can enhance freezing-tolerance of plant species through a period of exposure to low nonfreezing temperatures. As a subtropical evergreen broadleaf plant, oil-tea camellia demonstrates a relatively strong tolerance to freezing temperatures. Moreover, wild oil-tea camellia is an essential genetic resource for the breeding of cultivated oil-tea camellia, one of the four major woody oil crops in the world. The aims of our study are to identify variations in transcriptomes of wild oil-tea camellia from different latitudes and elevations, and discover candidate genes for cold acclimation. RESULTS: Leaf transcriptomes were obtained of wild oil-tea camellia from different elevations in Lu and Jinggang Mountains, China. Huge amounts of simple sequence repeats (SSRs), single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertion/deletions (InDels) were identified. Based on SNPs, phylogenetic analysis was performed to detect genetic structure. Wild oil-tea camellia samples were genetically differentiated mainly between latitudes (between Lu and Jinggang Mountains) and then among elevations (within Lu or Jinggang Mountain). Gene expression patterns of wild oil-tea camellia samples were compared among different air temperatures, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were discovered. When air temperatures were below 10 °C, gene expression patterns changed dramatically and majority of the DEGs were up-regulated at low temperatures. More DEGs concerned with cold acclimation were detected at 2 °C than at 5 °C, and a putative C-repeat binding factor (CBF) gene was significantly up-regulated only at 2 °C, suggesting a stronger cold stress at 2 °C. We developed a new method for identifying significant functional groups of DEGs. Among the DEGs, transmembrane transporter genes were found to be predominant and many of them encoded transmembrane sugar transporters. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides one of the largest transcriptome dataset in the genus Camellia. Wild oil-tea camellia populations were genetically differentiated between latitudes. It may undergo cold acclimation when air temperatures are below 10 °C. Candidate genes for cold acclimation may be predominantly involved in transmembrane transporter activities.

Genetical and molecular analysis reveals a cooperating relationship between cytoplasmic male sterility- and fertility restoration-related genes in Oryza species.

Although the characterization of genes associated with cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) and fertility restoration (Rf) has been well documented, the evolutionary relationship between nuclear Rf and CMS factors in mitochondria in Oryza species is still less understood. Here, 41 accessions from 7 Oryza species with AA genome were employed for analyzing the evolutionary relationships between the CMS factors and Rf candidates on chromosome 10. The phylogenetic tree based on restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns of CMS-associated mitochondrial genes showed that these 41 Oryza accessions fell into 3 distinct groups. Another phylogenetic tree based on PCR profiles of the nuclear Rf candidates on chromosome 10 was also established, and three groups were distinctively grouped. The accessions in each subgroup/group of the two phylogenetic trees are well parallel to each other. Furthermore, the 41 investigated accessions were test-crossed with Honglian (gametophytic type) and Wild-abortive (sporophytic type) CMS, and 5 groups were classified according to their restoring ability. The accessions in the same subgroup of the two phylogenetic trees shared similar fertility restoring pattern. Therefore, we conclude that the CMS-associated mitotypes are compatible to the Rf candidate-related nucleotypes, CMS and Rf have a parallel evolutionary relation in the Oryza species.

[Distribution and SNPs of the rice CMS-related gene in AA-genome of Oryza species].

The moiety of a chimeric gene in mitochondrial genome, orf79 and orfH79, probably related to BT-type and HL-type CMS of rice respectively, has 98% homology and only 4 nucleotide variation in DNA sequence. Of which, the former comes from Oryza sativa L., and the latter originates from Oryza rufipogon Griff. That means the orf79/ orfH79 may widely exist in Oryza species with AA genome. In order to investigate the distribution and difference of orf79/ orfH79 in the Oryza species, 190 cultivated rice accessions (including O. sativa and O. glaberrima) and 104 accessions of AA-genome Oryza wild species (including O. nivara, O. rufipogon, O. barthii, O. longistaminlata, O. glumaepatula, and O. meridion-alis) were detected with PCR amplification. Of which, 31 accessions mainly from AA-genome Oryza species were found to share the special amplified fragment with the control of Yuetai A and Shijin A. The special amplified fragments were all recovered and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis based on DNA sequences showed that the 31 accessions were fallen into two groups, correspondingly representing HL-type and BT-type cytoplasm group. Further, the results revealed that the HL-type cytoplasm distributed mainly in annual O. nivara, and the BT-type cytoplasm centered in cultivated varieties or perennial O. rufipogon.

Phylogenetic analysis of AA-genome Oryza species (Poaceae) based on chloroplast, mitochondrial, and nuclear DNA sequences.

Species in the genus Oryza (Poaceae) contain 10 genomic types and are distributed in pan-tropics of the world. To explore phylogenetic relationships of Oryza species having the AA-genome, DNA sequences of the chloroplast trnL intron and trnL-trnF spacer, mitochondrial nad1 intron 2, and nuclear internal transcribed spacer were analyzed, based on materials from 6 cultivated (O. sativa and O. glaberrima) and 13 wild accessions, in addition to a CC-genome species (O. officinalis) that was used as an outgroup. Analyses of the combined sequence data set from different sources provide a much better resolution of the AA-genome species than the individual data set, indicating the limitation of a single gene in phylogenetic reconstruction. The phylogeny based on the combined data set demonstrated an apparent grouping of the AA-genome Oryza species that was well associated with their geographic origin, although the Australian O. meridionalis showed its affinity with the African species. The geographic pattern of the phylogenetic relationship was probably attributed to the frequent genetic exchange and introgression among the AA-genome species from the same continents. In addition, Asian cultivated rice O. sativa showed its close relation to O. rufipogon and O. nivara, whereas African cultivated rice O. glaberrima was closely linked to O. barthii and O. longistaminata, indicating the independent domestication of the two cultivated species in different geographic locations.

[Genetic variation of main restorer lines of hybrid rice in China was revealed by microsatellite markers].

A total of thirty-five restorer lines of hybrid rice (Oryza sativa L.) were analyzed by twenty-five SSR (simple sequence repeats) primer pairs, which disperse on 12 chromosomes in rice. Those primers detected 65 alleles among 35 restorer lines of hybrid rice. Per primer pair detected 2.6 alleles on the average. PIC (polymorphism index content) values ranged from 0.206 to 0.682. PIC value is 0.414 on the average. The result from cluster analysis shows that hybrid rice restorer lines have abundant resource in China, but the genetic diversity is small and the genetic background is vulnerable among them. The utilization of rice heterosis was limited seriously.

[Genetic analysis and identification of three groups three-line hybrid rice and their parents by RAPD markers].

A total of 248 arbitrary 10-mer oligonucleotide primers were screened using RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA) techniques with the genome DNA of three groups of three-line hybrid rice and their parents. Thirteen primers produced 43 polymorphism fragments. Six primers of them produced 20 obviously repeatable polymorphic markers among rice lines tested. Using this RAPD markers,the hybrid rice combinations (sterile-line, maintainer-line, restorer-line and F1) can be effectively identified, and the genetic relationship among them can be shown.