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Overexpression of a cyanobacterial fructose-1,6-/sedoheptulose-1, 7-bisphosphatase in tobacco enhances photosynthesis and growth

Abstract

Transgenic tobacco plants expressing a cyanobacterial fructose-1,6/sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase targeted to chloroplasts show enhanced photosynthetic efficiency and growth characteristics under atmospheric conditions (360 p.p.m. CO2). Compared with wild-type tobacco, final dry matter and photosynthetic CO2 fixation of the transgenic plants were 1.5-fold and 1.24-fold higher, respectively. Transgenic tobacco also showed a 1.2-fold increase in initial activity of ribulose 1,5 bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) compared with wild-type plants. Levels of intermediates in the Calvin cycle and the accumulation of carbohydrates were also higher than those in wild-type plants. This is the first report in which expression of a single plastid-targeted enzyme has been shown to improve carbon fixation and growth in transgenic plants.

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Figure 1: Creation of cyanobacterial FBP/SBPase transgenic tobacco.
Figure 2: Plant growth.
Figure 3: Activities of the Calvin cycle enzymes and other enzymes involved in carbon metabolism.
Figure 4: Photosynthetic activity in wild-type and transformed plants.
Figure 5: Levels of phosphorylated intermediates in the Calvin cycle (A) and carbohydrates (B).

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Acknowledgements

We thank Drs. Akiho Yokota and Archie R. Portis for their helpful discussions and critical review of the manuscript, and Drs. Akira Isogai, Fang-Sik Che, and Megumi Iwano for help with the photomicroscopy and electron microscopy. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for the “Research for the Future Program” (JSPS-RFTF97R16001) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas (A) (12025228) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

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Correspondence to Shigeru Shigeoka.

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Miyagawa, Y., Tamoi, M. & Shigeoka, S. Overexpression of a cyanobacterial fructose-1,6-/sedoheptulose-1, 7-bisphosphatase in tobacco enhances photosynthesis and growth. Nat Biotechnol 19, 965–969 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1001-965

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