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C A Raines

Publications and source records attributed to C A Raines.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Products of leaf primary carbon metabolism modulate the developmental programme determining plant morphology.

Considerable effort has been expended on understanding the genetic networks that regulate leaf development and morphology, however, less attention has been given to the role of leaf carbon status in modulating the plant developmental programme. Unexpected changes in plant development have been observed in response to changes in leaf metabolism. The focus of this review will be to discuss how manipulation of leaf carbon metabolic pathways, such as the photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle and trehalose biosynthesis, has provided insights into links between metabolism and development.

Carbohydrate Metabolism↗
PubMed2006

Decreased SBPase activity alters growth and development in transgenic tobacco plants.

The effects of reduced SBPase activity on growth and development were examined in a set of transgenic tobacco plants produced using an antisense construct driven by the ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase, small subunit promoter. Photosynthetic carbon assimilation rates and carbohydrate levels in source leaves were decreased in the antisense plants. Growth rate and total shoot biomass were reduced in the SBPase antisense plants, even in plants where SBPase activity was reduced by only 25%. Floral biomass also decreased in response to reductions in SBPase activity and the onset of flowering was delayed by 5-10 d. This is the first demonstration of a link between reproductive biomass and reductions in Calvin cycle enzyme activity using antisense plants. Furthermore, unexpected changes in the growth and development of the antisense plants were evident. Small reductions in SBPase activity (above 50% wild type) resulted in shorter plants with only a small decrease in stem biomass and specific leaf area. In contrast, plants with larger reductions in SBPase activity had an increase in specific leaf area and attained heights similar to that of the wild-type plants but with a much reduced stem biomass, largely due to a decrease in xylem tissue. This bi-modal response of growth to reductions in SBPase activity has similarities to changes in leaf and stem anatomy and morphology that accompany light acclimation.

Biomass↗
PubMed2006

Can fast-growing plantation trees escape biochemical down-regulation of photosynthesis when grown throughout their complete production cycle in the open air under elevated carbon dioxide?

Poplar trees sustain close to the predicted increase in leaf photosynthesis when grown under long-term elevated CO2 concentration ([CO2]). To investigate the mechanisms underlying this response, carbohydrate accumulation and protein expression were determined over four seasons of growth. No increase in the levels of soluble carbohydrates was observed in the young expanding or mature sun leaves of the three poplar genotypes during this period. However, substantial increases in starch levels were observed in the mature leaves of all three poplar genotypes grown in elevated [CO2]. Despite the very high starch levels, no changes in the expression of photosynthetic Calvin cycle proteins, or in the starch biosynthetic enzyme ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase), were observed. This suggested that no long-term photosynthetic acclimation to CO2 occurred in these plants. Our data indicate that poplar trees are able to 'escape' from long-term, acclimatory down-regulation of photosynthesis through a high capacity for starch synthesis and carbon export. These findings show that these poplar genotypes are well suited to the elevated [CO2] conditions forecast for the middle of this century and may be particularly suited for planting for the long-term carbon sequestration into wood.

Air↗
PubMed2001

pho3: a phosphorus-deficient mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh.

A novel P-deficient mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana, pho3, was isolated by screening for root acid phosphatase (APase) activity in plants grown under low-P conditions. pho3 had 30% less APase activity in roots than the wild type and, in contrast to wild-type plants, root APase activity did not increase in response to growth in low P. However, shoot APase activity was higher in pho3 than in the wild-type plants. In addition, the pho3 mutant had a P-deficient phenotype, even when grown in P-sufficient conditions. The total P content of 11-d-old pho3 plants, grown in agar media with a plentiful supply of P, was about 25% lower than the wild-type level in the shoot, and about 65% lower in the roots. In the rosette leaves of mature soil-grown pho3 plants the total P content was again reduced, to about 50% of wild-type levels. pho3 exhibited a number of characteristics normally associated with low-P stress, including severely reduced growth, increased anthocyanin content (at least 100-fold greater than the wild type in soil-grown plants) and starch accumulation. The results suggest that the mutant is unable to respond to low internal P levels, and may lack a transporter or a signalling component involved in regulating P nutrition.

Acid Phosphatase↗
PubMed2001

Computer modelling and experimental evidence for two steady states in the photosynthetic Calvin cycle.

We present observations of photosynthetic carbon dioxide assimilation, and leaf starch content from genetically modified tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants in which the activity of the Calvin cycle enzyme, sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase, is reduced by an antisense construct. The measurements were made on leaves of varying ages and used to calculate the flux control coefficients of sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase over photosynthetic assimilation and starch synthesis. These calculations suggest that control coefficients for both are negative in young leaves, and positive in mature leaves. This behaviour is compared to control coefficients obtained from a detailed computer model of the Calvin cycle. The comparison demonstrates that the experimental observations are consistent with bistable behaviour exhibited by the model, and provides the first experimental evidence that such behaviour in the Calvin cycle occurs in vivo as well as in silico.

Carbon Dioxide↗
PubMed2001

Small decreases in SBPase cause a linear decline in the apparent RuBP regeneration rate, but do not affect Rubisco carboxylation capacity.

The response of net photosynthetic CO(2) uptake (A) to increasing leaf intercellular CO(2) concentration (c(i)) was determined in antisense Nicotiana tabacum plants, derived from six independent transformation lines, displaying a range of sedoheptulose-1, 7-bisphosphatase (SBPase) activities. The maximum in vivo ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) carboxylation (V(c,max)) and RuBP regeneration (J(max)) rates were calculated from the steady-state measurements of the A to c(i) response curves. In plants with reductions in SBPase activity of between 9% and 60%, maximum RuBP regeneration capacity declined linearly (r(2)=0.79) and no significant change in apparent in vivo Rubisco activity (V(c,max)) was observed in these plants. No correlation between V(c,max) and a decrease in capacity for RuBP regeneration was observed (r(2)=0.14) in the SBPase antisense plants. These data demonstrate that small decreases in SBPase activity limit photosynthetic carbon assimilation by reducing the capacity for RuBP regeneration.

Carbon Dioxide↗
PubMed2001

Photosynthetic capacity is differentially affected by reductions in sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase activity during leaf development in transgenic tobacco plants.

The impact of reduced sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (SBPase) activity on photosynthetic capacity and carbohydrate status was examined during leaf expansion and maturation in antisense transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Samsun) plants. In wild-type plants, photosynthetic capacity was lowest in young expanding leaves and reached a maximum in the fully expanded, mature leaves. In contrast, the transgenic antisense SBPase plants had the highest photosynthetic rates in the young expanding leaves and lowest rates in the mature leaves. In the mature, fully expanded leaves of the transgenic plants photosynthetic capacity was closely correlated with the level of SBPase activity. However, in the youngest leaves of the SBPase antisense plants, photosynthetic rates were close to, or higher than, those observed in wild-type plants, despite having a lower SBPase activity than the equivalent wild-type leaves. Reductions in SBPase activity affected carbohydrate levels in both the mature and young developing leaves. The overall trend was for decreased SBPase activity to lead to reductions in carbohydrate levels, particularly in starch. However, these changes in carbohydrate content were also dependent on the developmental status of the leaf. For example, in young expanding leaves of plants with the smallest reductions in SBPase activity, the levels of starch were higher than in wild-type plants. These data suggest that the source status of the mature leaves is an important determinant of photosynthetic development.

DNA, Antisense↗
PubMed1998

Purification of active chloroplast sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase expressed in Escherichia coli.

Sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (SBPase) is an enzyme unique to photosynthetic organisms and has a key role in regulating the photosynthetic Calvin cycle through which nearly all carbon enters the biosphere. This makes SBPase an appropriate target for intensive study. We have expressed wheat SBPase in Escherichia coli either with or without an N-terminal polyhistidine tag. The identity of the recombinant SBPases was confirmed by SDS-PAGE analysis and immunological detection with a specific antibody. Recombinant SBPase with a polyhistidine tag (His-SBPase) was obtained in soluble, active form and purified by one-step metal-chelate chromatography. Like the native enzyme, recombinant His-SBPase was specific for the substrate sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate and required the presence of a reducing agent for activity. Polyclonal antibodies were raised against recombinant SBPase and were then used to determine relative levels of the enzyme in plant extracts. The availability of large amounts of active recombinant SBPase will also allow detailed structural studies by site-directed mutagenesis and X-ray crystallography.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1996

Differential gene expression of chloroplast and cytosolic phosphoglycerate kinase in tobacco.

Northern blot analysis of RNA extracted from leaves of increasing age and different organs, indicates that genes encoding both isoenzymes of tobacco phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK, EC 2.7.2.3) are differentially expressed in a developmental and tissue-specific manner. The genes for both chloroplast PGK (chl-PGK) and cytosolic PGK (cyt-PGK) also show light-modulated gene expression in vivo. In dark-grown developing cotyledonary leaves of tobacco both PGK mRNAs are present, but only the concentration of the chl-PGK mRNA increased on illumination. In contrast, on transfer to darkness, the concentration of both mRNAs decreased in light-grown seedlings and then increased again on resumption of illumination.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Molecular cloning of the Arabidopsis thaliana sedoheptulose-1,7-biphosphatase gene and expression studies in wheat and Arabidopsis thaliana.

We report here the isolation and nucleotide sequence of genomic clones encoding the chloroplast enzyme sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (SBPase) from Arabidopsis thaliana. The coding region of this gene contains eight exons (72-76 bp) and seven introns (75-91 bp) and encodes a polypeptide of 393 amino acids. Unusually, the 5' non-coding region contains two additional AUG codons upstream of the translation initiation codon. A comparison of the deduced Arabidopsis and wheat SBPase polypeptide sequences reveals 78.6%, identity. Expression studies showed that the level of SBPase mRNA in Arabidopsis and wheat is regulated in a light-dependent manner and is also influenced by the developmental stage of the leaf. Although the Arabidopsis SBPase gene is present in a single copy, two hybridizing transcripts were detected in some tissues, suggesting the presence of alternate transcription start sites in the upstream region.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

A light- and developmentally-regulated DNA-binding interaction is common to the upstream sequences of the wheat Calvin cycle bisphosphatase genes.

We have characterised a DNA-binding interaction common to the upstream sequences of the wheat fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) and sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (SBPase) genes. The recognition site for this sequence-specific binding activity, designated wheat FBPase factor (WF-1), is located within 125 bp of the transcription start site of each gene. Within these regions there are no sequence motifs similar to those shown to be important for light-regulated expression in other species. The binding activity was not detected in wheat root nuclear extracts, or in pea leaf extracts. There was a higher level of binding activity in light-grown than in dark-grown wheat leaves. The level was also found to decline when light-grown plants were given an extended dark treatment, but could be reinduced by light. Utilising the gradient of developmental maturity which exists within the wheat leaf it was found that WF-1 activity increases during leaf development.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1992

cDNA and gene sequences of wheat chloroplast sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase reveal homology with fructose-1,6-bisphosphatases.

The nucleotide sequence encoding the chloroplast enzyme, sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase [Sed(1,7)P2ase], was obtained from wheat cDNA and genomic clones. The transcribed region of the Sed(1,7)P2ase gene has eight exons (72-507 bp) and seven introns (85-626 bp) and encodes a precursor polypeptide of 393 amino acids. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of Sed(1,7)P2ase with those of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase [Fru(1,6)P2ase] enzymes from a variety of sources reveals 19% identity, rising to 42% if conservative changes are considered. Most importantly, the amino acid residues which form the active site of Fru(1,6)P2ase are highly conserved in the Sed(1,7)P2ase molecule, indicating a common catalytic mechanism. Interestingly, although the activities of both Sed(1,7)P2ase and chloroplast Fru(1,6)P2ase are modulated by light via the thioredoxin system, the amino acid sequence motif identified as having a role in this regulation in chloroplast Fru(1,6)P2ase is not found in the Sed(1,7)P2ase enzyme.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Arabidopsis thaliana carbonic anhydrase: cDNA sequence and effect of CO2 on mRNA levels.

A full-length cDNA clone encoding carbonic anhydrase was isolated from an Arabidopsis thaliana (Columbia) leaf library. Comparison of the derived amino acid sequence obtained from this clone with those of pea and spinach reveals a considerable degree of identity. The carbonic anhydrase cDNA was used to probe the level of RNA encoding this protein in the leaves of plants grown in elevated CO2 (660 ppm). We have found that under these conditions the steady-state level of carbonic anhydrase mRNA was increased in comparison with control plants grown in normal atmospheric concentrations of CO2 (330 ppm). This raises the intriguing possibility that there exists in higher plants a mechanism for perceiving and responding to changes in environmental CO2 concentrations at the genetic level.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

A novel proline-rich protein from wheat.

A cDNA (WPRP1) encoding a wheat proline-rich protein has been isolated and sequenced. The amino acid composition shows 45% proline, with high levels of methionine, lysine and glutamic acid. The derived 378 residue amino acid sequence has a highly repetitive structure which is unlike those of other proline-rich proteins. The WPRP1 cDNA clone was used to determine the copy number and chromosomal location of the WPRP1 gene by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of wheat inbred lines. Although WPRP1 is encoded by a single-copy gene it is also a representative of a larger family of related sequences. RNA gel blot analysis showed that expression of WPRP1 is highest in rapidly growing tissue which together with its amino acid composition suggests a structural role for the encoded protein.

Amino Acid Sequence↗