The six genes of the Rubisco small subunit multigene family from Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, a facultative CAM plant

The nucleotide sequences of the entire gene family, comprising six genes, that encodes the Rubisco small subunit (rbcS) multigene family in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (common ice plant), were determined. Five of the genes are arranged in a tandem array spanning 20 kb, while the sixth gene is not closely linked to this array. The mature small subunit coding regions are highly conserved and encode four distinct polypeptides of equal lengths with up to five amino acid differences distinguishing individual genes. The transit peptide coding regions are more divergent in both amino acid sequence and length, encoding five distinct peptide sequences that range from 55 to 61 amino acids in length. Each of the genes has two introns located at conserved sites within the mature peptide-coding regions. The first introns are diverse in sequence and length ranging from 122 by to 1092 bp. Five of the six second introns are highly conserved in sequence and length. Two genes, rbcS-4 and rbcS-5, are identical at the nucleotide level starting from 121 by upstream of the ATG initiation codon to 9 by downstream of the stop codon including the sequences of both introns, indicating recent gene duplication and/or gene conversion. Functionally important regulatory elements identified in rbcS promoters of other species are absent from the upstream regions of all but one of the ice plant rbcS genes. Relative expression levels were determined for the rbcS genes and indicate that they are differentially expressed in leaves.     

Transformation of a CAM plant, the facultative halophyte Mesembryanthemum crystallinum by Agrobacterium tumefaciens

This study is the first to demonstrate that a foreign DNA can be delivered into cells of facultative halophyte crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plant, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L. with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. This plant can be induced to change from C3 to CAM by drought and various stresses, and is a good model to study the environment stress on metabolism not only at whole plant but also at cell level. The β-glucuronidase (GUS) and kanamycin (Km) resistance genes were introduced into this plant. The average successful rate of transformation was about 54.5% with root tissue or 53.0% with hypocotyl tissue. Based on the resistance to Km, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection and GUS expression, transformation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens was successful for introducing foreign genes into M. crystallinum. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Thermoluminescence studies on the facultative crassulacean-acid- metabolism plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.

Thermoluminescence (TL) signals were measured from leaves of the facultative CAM (crassulacean acid metabolism) plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.. Following the induction of CAM by salt treatment, a TL band at 46 °C was induced, which was charged by a single-turnover flash. The intensity of the 46 °C-band depends on the number of excitation flashes and oscillates with a period of four. A similar band was induced in C₃ plants by far-red illumination. Under CAM conditions, the intensity of the 46 °C-band underlies a diurnal rhythm. The maximal intensity of the 46 °C-band is observed in the morning after onset of the light and in the evening. At around 12 a.m. it is suppressed. The intensity of the 46 °C-band relates to diurnal changes in the ratio of dihydroxy acetone phosphate/3-phosphoglycerate (DHAP/PGA) which is an indicator of the energy status of the chloroplast. During high-intensity illumination, the 46 °C-band disappears, but it is restored in the dark. We propose that the 46 °C-band is an indicator of the metabolic state of the leaf, originating from photosystem II centres initially in the S₂(S₃)Q_B oxidation state, in which the electron acceptor Q_B becomes reduced either by reverse electron flow or reduction of the plastoquinone pool via an NAD(P)H plastoquinone oxidoreductase. We present evidence that the redox state of the electron-transport chain is different under conditions of CAM compared to C₃ metabolism and that changes induced by CAM can be monitored by measuring the amplitude of the 46 °C-band after flash excitation. Received: 7 August 1997 / Accepted: 22 December 1997     

Regulatory protein phosphorylation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in the facultative crassulacean-acid-metabolism plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.

Phosphoenolpyruvate PyrP carboxylase (PyrPC) and PyrPC kinase were copurified from dark-adapted leaves of the common ice plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L. with crassulacean-acid metabolism (CAM). Purification by (NH4)2SO4 fractionation, chromatography on Fractogel-DEAE and hydroxylapatite resulted in a PyrPC preparation with a specific activity of 23-25 U/mg protein and a protein kinase activity of 255 mumol Pi.mol-1 PyrPC.s-1. After in vitro phosphorylation, the most prominently phosphorylated polypeptide was identified as PyrPC by immunoblotting and sequencing. Phosphorylation of PyrPC in vitro by incubation with 400 microM MgATP decreased its sensitivity towards malate. When purified in the absence of the protease inhibitor chymostatin, PyrPC lost an N-terminal sequence of 128 amino acids. Although the carboxylation reaction was unaffected, the truncated PyrPC could neither be phosphorylated in vitro nor inhibited by malate. This result and data obtained by limited proteolysis concur with the hypothesis [Jiao, J.A. & Chollet, R. (1989) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 283, 300-305] that Ser11 is the phosphorylation site of the CAM PyrPC of M. crystallinum. At pH 7.0, the Km for ATP of the protein kinase was 25 microM; phosphorylation of PyrPC was maximal after 30 min at pH 7.0. The kinase showed also activity with histone III-S but not with dephosphorylated casein. It was inhibited by malate. The results show, that reversible protein phosphorylation is an important factor in the regulation of PyrPC in the facultative CAM plant M. crystallinum, similar to C4 and constitutive CAM plants.     

Competing carboxylases: circadian and metabolic regulation of Rubisco in C3 and CAM Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L

The temporal co-ordination of ribulose 1·5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPc) activities by Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L. in C(3) and crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) modes was investigated under conventional light-dark (LD) and continuous light (LL) conditions. When C(3) , net CO(2) assimilation rate increased during each subjective night under LL with maximum carboxylation unrelated to Rubisco activation state. The CAM circadian rhythm of CO(2) uptake was more pronounced, with CO(2) assimilation rate maximal towards the end of each subjective night. In vivo and in vitro techniques were integrated to map carboxylase enzyme regulation to the framework provided by CAM LL gas exchange activity. Rubisco was activated in vitro throughout each subjective dark period and consistently deactivated at each subjective dawn, similar to that observed at true dawn in constitutive CAM species. Instantaneous carbon isotope discrimination showed in vivo carboxylase co-dominance during the CAM subjective night, initially by Rubisco and latterly C(4) (PEPc), despite both enzymes seemingly activated in vitro. The circadian rhythm in titratable acidity accumulation was progressively damped over successive subjective nights, but maintenance of PEPc carboxylation capacity ensures that CAM plants do not become progressively more 'C(3) -like' with time under LL.     

Starch-degrading enzymes during the induction of CAM in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum

Mesembryanthemum crystallinum plants were irrigated with 400 mol m^?3 NaCl to induce CAM and levels of leaf starch, and activities of starch-degrading enzymes were measured. During Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) induction, daily starch turnover gradually became more pronounced and was three- to four-fold greater than in leaves of C₃ plants after 3 weeks. Activities of α- and β-amylase, D-enzyme and starch phosphorylase all increased 10- to 20-fold within 3 weeks of the start of salt treatment. Activities of α- and β-amylase increased more than fourfold within the first 24 h of salt treatment, which is the fastest increase in enzyme activities so far measured during the induction of CAM with salt solution in intact plants of this species. Most enzyme activities were partially chloroplastic; however, the principal starch-degrading activity was constituted by an extra-chloroplastic β-amylase. CAM starch-phosphorylase activity, which was mainly chloroplastic, exhibited a two- to three-fold diurnal change in parallel with starch content. CAM induction in M. crystallinum is clearly associated with greater starch turnover and enhanced starch-degrading enzyme activities, which as catalysts of the initial reaction to release carbon for synthesis of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) appear highly significant for the functioning of the CAM pathway. The diurnal rhythm of phosphorylase activity may be of particular significance.     

A CAM- and starch-deficient mutant of the facultative CAM species Mesembryanthemum crystallinum reconciles sink demands by repartitioning carbon during acclimation to salinity

In the halophytic species Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, the induction of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) by salinity requires a substantial investment of resources in storage carbohydrates to provide substrate for nocturnal CO(2) uptake. Acclimation to salinity also requires the synthesis and accumulation of cyclitols as compatible solutes, maintenance of root respiration, and nitrate assimilation. This study assessed the hierarchy and coordination of sinks for carbohydrate in leaves and roots during acclimation to salinity in M. crystallinum. By comparing wild type and a CAM-/starch-deficient mutant of this species, it was sought to determine if other metabolic sinks could compensate for a curtailment in CAM and enable acclimation to salinity. Under salinity, CAM deficiency reduced 24?h photosynthetic carbon gain by >50%. Cyclitols were accumulated to comparable levels in leaves and roots of both the wild type and mutant, but represented only 5% of 24?h carbon balance. Dark respiration of leaves and roots was a stronger sink for carbohydrate in the mutant compared with the wild type and implied higher maintenance costs for the metabolic processes underpinning acclimation to salinity when CAM was curtailed. CAM required the nocturnal mobilization of >70% of primary carbohydrate in the wild type and >85% of carbohydrate in the mutant. The substantial allocation of carbohydrate to CAM limited the export of sugars to roots, and the root:shoot ratio declined under salinity. The data suggest a key role for the vacuole in regulating the supply and demand for carbohydrate over the day/night cycle in the starch-/CAM-deficient mutant.     

Analysis of chlorophyll a fluorescence in C3 and CAM forms of Mesembryanthemum crystallinum

Comparisons of chlorophyll a fluorescence characteristics ofC₃ and CAM forms of Mesembryanthemum crystallinum were usedto identify features of the photosynthetic mechanism associatedwith CAM. The reduction status, Q, was lower and predicted PSII activityhigher in the C₃ form than in the CAM form throughout the photoperiod.These differences were particularly pronounced during the firsthour of illumination when non-photochemical quenching attributableto the intrathylakoid proton gradient was also at its highestin the CAM form. It is argued that this high proton gradientdiminishes PSII activity and serves a protective role againstphotoinhibition at a time in the CAM cycle when both CO₂ concentrationwithin the leaf, and carbon cycle enzyme activation levels arelikely to be low. Differences in fluorescence characteristics between the C₃ andCAM forms also indicate modification of the energy transductionmechanisms of the CAM form possibly related to the increasedoverall demand for ATP in CAM photosynthesis. Total non-photochemicalquenching was higher in the CAM form than in the C₃ form. Aninverse relationship between fast and slowly-relaxing componentsof non-photochemical quenching can be interpreted in terms ofthe changing demand for ATP in the different phases of CAM. Key words: C₃/CAM photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence, state transitions, cyclic photophosphorylation     

Characteristics of MgATP2--dependent electrogenic proton transport in tonoplast vesicles of the facultative crassulacean-acid-metabolism plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.

Membrane vesicles were isolated from mesophyll cells of Mesembryanthemum crystallinum in the C₃ state and in the crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) state. The distribution of ATP-hydrolysis and H⁺-transport activities, and the activities of hydroxypyruvate reductase and Antimycin-insensitive cytochrome-c-reductase on continuous sucrose gradients was studied. For isolations carried out routinely a discontinuous sucrose gradient (24%/37%/50%) was used. Nitrate-sensitive ATP-hydrolysis and H⁺-transport activities increased several-fold during the transition from C₃ photosynthesis to CAM. Nitrate-sensitive ATPase showed a substrate preference for ATP with an apparent K_m (MgATP^2-) of 0.19–0.37 mM. In both C₃ and CAM states the ATPase showed a concentration-dependent stimulation by the anions chloride and malate. However, the pH optima of the two states were different: the ATPase of C_3- M. crystallinum had an optimum of pH 7.4 and that of CAM-M. crystallinum an optimum of pH 8.4. The optical probe oxonol-VI was used to demonstrate the formation of MgATP^2--dependent electric-potential gradients in tonoplast vesicles.Abbreviations Bistris-Pronane 1,3-bis [tris(hydroxymethyl)-methylaminol propane - CAM Crassulacean acid metabolism - DIDS 4,4-dilsothiocyano-2,2-stilbene disulfonic acid: - DTT dithiothreitol - ER endoplasmic reticulum - Hepes 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethane sulfonic acid - HPR hydroxypyruvate reductase - IDPase inosine 5-diphosphatase - OX-VI oxonol VI - Tris 2-amino-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-propanediol     

Superoxide dismutase activity in callus from the C3-CAM intermediate plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum

In light-grown callus obtained from M. crystallinum hypocotyls, three classes of superoxide dismutase (SOD): Mn-, Fe- and Cu/ZnSOD were identified. Callus cultured on a medium containing 0.4 M NaCl showed an increase in FeSOD activity on day 4 of the experiment. In contrast, Cu/ZnSOD activity was higher over 16 days of the experiment. Salinity stress induces oxidative stress mainly for the cytosolic SOD form (Cu/ZnSOD). After 16 days of callus culture on salt-containing medium, diurnal malate oscillations, and an increase in NADP-malic enzyme activity were noticed. These results strongly suggest that C₃-CAM transition can also be expressed at the cellular level. Therefore, callus tissue could be a useful model, similar to a whole plant, for investigation of mechanisms of stress responses in M. crystallinum.