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Water deficit induces chlorophyll degradation via the 'PAO/phyllobilin' pathway in leaves of homoio- (Craterostigma pumilum) and poikilochlorophyllous (Xerophyta viscosa) resurrection plants.

Type of publication Peer-reviewed
Publikationsform Original article (peer-reviewed)
Author Christ Bastien, Egert Aurélie, Süssenbacher Iris, Kräutler Bernhard, Bartels Dorothea, Peters Shaun, Hörtensteiner Stefan,
Project Chlorophyll breakdown: catabolite modification and transport, and the relation to stoma function and cell death signalling
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Original article (peer-reviewed)

Journal Plant, cell & environment
Volume (Issue) 37(11)
Page(s) 2521 - 31
Title of proceedings Plant, cell & environment
DOI 10.1111/pce.12308

Abstract

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 Chl degradation during dehydration in both poikilochlorophyllous (Xerophyta viscosa) and homoiochlorophyllous (Craterostigma pumilum) species. We demonstrate an increase in the abundance of PHEOPHORBIDE a OXYGENASE (PAO), a key enzyme of Chl breakdown, together with an accumulation of phyllobilins, that is, products of PAO-dependent Chl 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 Chl 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.
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