Premium
Water deficit induces chlorophyll degradation via the ‘ PAO /phyllobilin’ pathway in leaves of homoio‐ ( C raterostigma pumilum ) and poikilochlorophyllous ( X erophyta viscosa ) resurrection plants
Author(s) -
CHRIST BASTIEN,
EGERT AURÉLIE,
SÜSSENBACHER IRIS,
KRÄUTLER BERNHARD,
BARTELS DOROTHEA,
PETERS SHAUN,
HÖRTENSTEINER STEFAN
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/pce.12308
Subject(s) - pheophorbide a , photosynthesis , chlorophyll , dehydration , chemistry , enzyme , ripening , reactive oxygen species , oxidative stress , botany , biochemistry , biology
Angiosperm resurrection plants exhibit poikilo‐ or homoiochlorophylly as a response to water deficit. Both strategies are generally considered as effective mechanisms to reduce oxidative stress associated with photosynthetic activity under water deficiency. The mechanism of water deficit‐induced chlorophyll (Chl) degradation in resurrection plants is unknown but has previously been suggested to occur as a result of non‐enzymatic photooxidation. We investigated C hl degradation during dehydration in both poikilochlorophyllous ( X erophyta viscosa ) and homoiochlorophyllous ( C raterostigma pumilum ) species. We demonstrate an increase in the abundance of PHEOPHORBIDE a OXYGENASE ( PAO ), a key enzyme of C hl breakdown, together with an accumulation of phyllobilins, that is, products of PAO ‐dependent C hl breakdown, in both species. Phyllobilins and PAO levels diminished again in leaves from rehydrated plants. We conclude that water deficit‐induced poikilochlorophylly occurs via the well‐characterized PAO /phyllobilin pathway of C hl breakdown and that this mechanism also appears conserved in a resurrection species displaying homoiochlorophylly. The roles of the PAO /phyllobilin pathway during different plant developmental processes that involve Chl breakdown, such as leaf senescence and desiccation, fruit ripening and seed maturation, are discussed.