Open AccessAn Arabidopsis mutant with high operating efficiency of Photosystem II and low chlorophyll fluorescence
Author(s) -
Niels van Tol,
Martijn Rolloos,
Dieuwertje Augustijn,
A. Alia,
Huub J. M. de Groot,
Paul J. J. Hooykaas,
Bert J. van der Zaal
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-03611-1
Subject(s) - photosystem ii , photosynthesis , mutant , arabidopsis , photosynthetic efficiency , chlorophyll , chlorophyll fluorescence , arabidopsis thaliana , chlorophyll a , photosynthetic capacity , fluorescence , chemistry , biophysics , biology , botany , photochemistry , gene , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
The overall light energy to biomass conversion efficiency of plant photosynthesis is generally regarded as low. Forward genetic screens in Arabidopsis have yielded very few mutants with substantially enhanced photochemistry. Here, we report the isolation of a novel Arabidopsis mutant with a high operating efficiency of Photosystem II (φPSII) and low chlorophyll fluorescence from a library of lines harboring T-DNA constructs encoding artificial transcription factors. This mutant was named L ow C hlorophyll F luorescence 1 (LCF1). Only a single T-DNA insertion was detected in LCF1, which interrupted the expression of the full length mRNA of the gene At4g36280 ( MORC2 ). We demonstrate that the high φPSII and low levels of chlorophyll fluorescence were due to a decrease in PSII:PSI ratio. Although LCF1 plants had decreased rosette surface area and biomass under normal growth conditions, they contained more starch per gram fresh weight. The growth defect of LCF1 was alleviated by low light and short day conditions, and growth could even be enhanced after a period of dark-induced senescence, showing that the plant can utilize its excess photosynthetic conversion capacity as a resource when needed.