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Loss‐of‐function mutation of rice SLAC7 decreases chloroplast stability and induces a photoprotection mechanism in rice
Author(s) -
Fan Xiaolei,
Wu Jiemin,
Chen Taiyu,
Tie Weiwei,
Chen Hao,
Zhou Fei,
Lin Yongjun
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of integrative plant biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.734
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1744-7909
pISSN - 1672-9072
DOI - 10.1111/jipb.12350
Subject(s) - photoprotection , chloroplast , photosynthesis , mutant , oryza sativa , photoinhibition , biology , arabidopsis , botany , wild type , microbiology and biotechnology , biophysics , biochemistry , photosystem ii , gene
Plants absorb sunlight to power the photochemical reactions of photosynthesis, which can potentially damage the photosynthetic machinery. However, the mechanism that protects chloroplasts from the damage remains unclear. In this work, we demonstrated that rice ( Oryza sativa L.) SLAC7 is a generally expressed membrane protein. Loss‐of‐function of SLAC7 caused continuous damage to the chloroplasts of mutant leaves under normal light conditions. Ion leakage indicators related to leaf damage such as H 2 O 2 and abscisic acid levels were significantly higher in slac7 ‐1 than in the wild type. Consistently, the photosynthesis efficiency and Fv/Fm ratio of slac7 ‐1 were significantly decreased (similar to photoinhibition). In response to chloroplast damage, slac7 ‐1 altered its leaf morphology (curled or fused leaf) by the synergy between plant hormones and transcriptional factors to decrease the absorption of light, suggesting that a photoprotection mechanism for chloroplast damage was activated in slac7 ‐1. When grown in dark conditions, slac7 ‐1 displayed a normal phenotype. SLAC7 under the control of the AtSLAC1 promoter could partially complement the phenotypes of Arabidopsis slac1 mutants, indicating a partial conservation of SLAC protein functions. These results suggest that SLAC7 is essential for maintaining the chloroplast stability in rice.