Interactions of C4 Subtype Metabolic Activities and Transport in Maize Are Revealed through the Characterization of DCT2 Mutants

The Plant Cell
Sarit WeissmannThomas P Brutnell

Abstract

C4 photosynthesis in grasses requires the coordinated movement of metabolites through two specialized leaf cell types, mesophyll (M) and bundle sheath (BS), to concentrate CO2 around Rubisco. Despite the importance of transporters in this process, few have been identified or rigorously characterized. In maize (Zea mays), DCT2 has been proposed to function as a plastid-localized malate transporter and is preferentially expressed in BS cells. Here, we characterized the role of DCT2 in maize leaves using Activator-tagged mutant alleles. Our results indicate that DCT2 enables the transport of malate into the BS chloroplast. Isotopic labeling experiments show that the loss of DCT2 results in markedly different metabolic network operation and dramatically reduced biomass production. In the absence of a functioning malate shuttle, dct2 lines survive through the enhanced use of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase carbon shuttle pathway that in wild-type maize accounts for ∼ 25% of the photosynthetic activity. The results emphasize the importance of malate transport during C4 photosynthesis, define the role of a primary malate transporter in BS cells, and support a model for carbon exchange between BS and M cells in maize.

Citations

May 24, 2018·American Journal of Botany·Riyadh MuhaidatOsama Otoum
Apr 18, 2018·Journal of Integrative Plant Biology·Yuling ZhangPinghua Li
Oct 21, 2018·Bioscience Reports·Georg BaslerZoran Nikoloski
Dec 5, 2019·ELife·Mary-Ann Blätke, Andrea Bräutigam
Oct 28, 2019·The Plant Journal : for Cell and Molecular Biology·Alexander Watson-LazowskiOula Ghannoum
Dec 2, 2020·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Leonardo Perez de SouzaAlisdair Fernie
Feb 16, 2021·Genome Biology and Evolution·Sarit WeissmannTodd C Mockler
Dec 22, 2019·Current Opinion in Biotechnology·Doug K Allen, Jamey D Young
Apr 15, 2016·Current Opinion in Plant Biology·Pu Huang, Thomas P Brutnell
Apr 9, 2021·The Plant Cell·Taylor AuBuchon-ElderElizabeth A Kellogg
May 1, 2021·Plants·Franziska KuhnertMarion Eisenhut
Apr 14, 2021·Annual Review of Plant Biology·Katharina Schiller, Andrea Bräutigam
Jul 31, 2021·Plant Communications·David B MedeirosAlisdair R Fernie
Jul 17, 2021·Journal of Experimental Botany·Cristina R G SalesJohannes Kromdijk

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