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Less Chlorophyll Does not Necessarily Restrain Light Capture Ability and Photosynthesis in a Chlorophyll‐Deficient Rice Mutant
Author(s) -
Li Y.,
Ren B.,
Gao L.,
Ding L.,
Jiang D.,
Xu X.,
Shen Q.,
Guo S.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of agronomy and crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.095
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-037X
pISSN - 0931-2250
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-037x.2012.00519.x
Subject(s) - chloroplast , photosynthesis , chlorophyll , rubisco , mutant , thylakoid , photosystem ii , biology , oryza sativa , wild type , chlorophyll a , chlorophyll fluorescence , electron transport chain , chlorophyll b , botany , biochemistry , gene
A chlorophyll‐deficient rice mutant, yellow‐green leaf 1 (ygl1), with a photosynthetic rate similar to that of wild type ( Oryza sativa L., cv. Zhenhui 249 China) is presented in this study. Forty percent of the chlorophyll in the mutant captured 70 % of the light in photosystem II (PSII) compared with wild type. The 30 % decreased light in the mutant was compensated for by a relatively higher quantum yield of PSII, which conferred a total electron transport rate (J T ) equal to that in wild type. More photons were absorbed by wild type and exhausted through thermal dissipation. Gene expression analysis of the thylakoid membrane showed that the chlorophyll deficiency in the mutant did not impair the electron transport chain. To determine why the photosynthetic rate was similar between the chlorophyll‐deficient mutant and wild type, the leaf nitrogen (N) and Rubisco contents, stomatal and mesophyll CO 2 conductance, and chloroplast development were investigated. Our results indicate that the chlorophyll deficiency in the mutant had no negative impact on the chloroplast development in terms of size and grana stacking; moreover, the chloroplastic CO 2 concentration and Rubisco content were comparable to those in wild type. We conclude that the light‐capturing ability of normal rice plants is not fully utilized and that absorbed light in the chlorophyll‐deficient mutant is more efficient in participating photosynthesis.