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- Title
Maize GOLDEN2-LIKE genes enhance biomass and grain yields in rice by improving photosynthesis and reducing photoinhibition.
- Authors
Li, Xia; Wang, Peng; Li, Jing; Wei, Shaobo; Yan, Yanyan; Yang, Jun; Zhao, Ming; Langdale, Jane A.; Zhou, Wenbin
- Abstract
Photosynthetic efficiency is a major target for improvement of crop yield potential under agricultural field conditions. Inefficiencies can occur in many steps of the photosynthetic process, from chloroplast biogenesis to functioning of the light harvesting and carbon fixation reactions. Nuclear-encoded GOLDEN2-LIKE (GLK) transcription factors regulate some of the earliest steps by activating target genes encoding chloroplast-localized and photosynthesis-related proteins. Here we show that constitutive expression of maize GLK genes in rice leads to enhanced levels of chlorophylls and pigment-protein antenna complexes, and that these increases lead to improved light harvesting efficiency via photosystem II in field-grown plants. Increased levels of xanthophylls further buffer the negative effects of photoinhibition under high or fluctuating light conditions by facilitating greater dissipation of excess absorbed energy as heat. Significantly, the enhanced photosynthetic capacity of field-grown transgenic plants resulted in increased carbohydrate levels and a 30–40% increase in both vegetative biomass and grain yield. Li et al. improve photosynthetic efficiency in rice by constitutively expressing maize GOLDEN2-like (GLK) genes (ZmG2 and ZmGLK1). They are able to reduce photoinhibition and enhance the photosynthetic potential as well as increase the carbohydrate, biomass and grain yield.
- Subjects
PHOTOSYNTHESIS; CARBON fixation; PLANT photoinhibition; XANTHOPHYLLS; TRANSGENIC plants
- Publication
Communications Biology, 2020, Vol 3, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2399-3642
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s42003-020-0887-3