Characteristics of Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Antioxidant-Oxidant Balance in PEPC and PPDK Transgenic Rice under Aluminum Stress

• Published in: Russian journal of plant physiology Vol. 65; no. 1; pp. 49 - 56
• Main Authors: Zhang, Y. H., Wang, E. M., Zhao, T. F., Wang, Q. Q., Chen, L. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aluminum; Antioxidants; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Chlorophyll; Citric acid; Corn; Enzymatic activity; Enzyme activity; Exudation; Fluorescence; Genes; Heavy metals; Life Sciences; Malate; Organic acids; Oryza sativa; Oxalic acid; Plant growth; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Pollution tolerance; Reactive oxygen species; Research Papers; Rice; Stress; Stresses; Transgenic plants; PPDK; organic acids efflux; antioxidant system; chlorophyll fluorescence; transgenic rice; PEPC; aluminum stress
• ISSN: 1021-4437; 1608-3407
• DOI: 10.1134/S1021443718010211

Aluminum is one of the most important heavy metals inducing stress during plant growth and development. In this study, transgenic rice (
Oryza sativa
L., cv. Kitaake) plants expressing the maize C
4
PEPC
and
PPDK
genes were evaluated for aluminum tolerance. A 4.3 and 19.1 folds increase of PPDK and PEPC activities in transgenic rice produced increases in root exudation of oxalate, malate, and citrate (1.20, 1.41, and 1.65 times, respectively) compared to untransformed (WT) plants. Transgenic rice had enhanced aluminum tolerance compared to WT based on chlorophyll fluorescence and chlorophyll levels. Transgenic plants under aluminum stress also had decreased lipid membrane oxidative damage and higher levels of ROS-scavenging enzyme activity. The
PEPC
and
PPDK
genes play an important role in aluminum stress tolerance by increasing the effluxes of organic acids.