Re-creation of a Key Step in the Evolutionary Switch from C3 to C4 Leaf Anatomy

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.040
• Publication Date: 2017-10-19T15:00:23Z
• Authors: Peng Wang; Roxana Khoshravesh; Shanta Karki; Ronald Tapia; C. Paolo Balahadia; Anindya Bandyopad...; W. Paul Quick; Robert Furbank; Tammy L. Sage; Jane A. Langdale
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 570; Cell biology; Chloroplasts; C4 photosynthesis; Evolutionary biology; Plant Science; Zea mays; Chloroplast; Gene; Article; Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis and Photoprotection; Agricultural and Biological Sciences; 03 medical and health sciences; Mitochondrial Dynamics and Reactive Oxygen Species Regulation; Photosynthetic Acclimation; Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Organelle; Genetics; Photosynthesis; Key (lock); Molecular Biology; Biology; Plant Proteins; 580; 2. Zero hunger; Ecology; Extant taxon; Botany; Life Sciences; Oryza; Plant Nutrient Uptake and Signaling Pathways; 15. Life on land; Vascular bundle; Biological Evolution; Mitochondria; Plant Leaves; FOS: Biological sciences; Anatomy; Transcription Factors

The C4 photosynthetic pathway accounts for ∼25% of primary productivity on the planet despite being used by only 3% species. Because plants are higher yielding than C3 plants, efforts underway to introduce into crop rice. This is an ambitious endeavor; however, evolved from multiple independent occasions over last 30 million years, and steps along trajectory evident in extant One approach toward engineering rice recapitulate this trajectory, one first which was a change leaf anatomy. transition so-called "proto-Kranz" anatomy requires increase organelle volume sheath cells surrounding veins. Here we induced chloroplast mitochondrial development vascular through constitutive expression maize GOLDEN2-LIKE genes. Increased accompanied accumulation enzymes increased intercellular connections. suite traits reflects that seen species, and, as such, key step has been achieved.