Enhanced tolerance to drought in transgenic rice plants overexpressing C4 photosynthesis enzymes

Abstract

Maize-specific pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK) was overexpressed in rice independently or in combination with the maize C4-specific phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PCK). The wild-type (WT) cultivar Kitaake and transgenic plants were evaluated in independent field and tank experiments. Three soil moisture treatments, well-watered (WW), moderate drought (MD) and severe drought (SD), were imposed from 9 d post-anthesis till maturity. Leaf physiological and biochemical traits, root activities, biomass, grain yield, and yield components in the untransformed WT and two transgenic rice lines (PPDK and PCK) were systematically studied. Compared with the WT, both transgenic rice lines showed increased leaf photosynthetic rate: by 20%–40% under WW, by 45%–60% under MD, and by 80%–120% under SD. The transgenic plants produced 16.1%, 20.2% and 20.0% higher grain yields than WT under the WW, MD and SD treatments, respectively. Under the same soil moisture treatments, activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) and carbonic anhydrase (CA) in transgenic plants were 3–5-fold higher than those in WT plants. Compared with ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase, activities of PEPC and CA were less reduced under both MD and SD treatments. The transgenic plants also showed higher leaf water content, stomatal conductance, transpiration efficiency, and root oxidation activity and a stronger active oxygen scavenging system than the WT under all soil moisture treatments, especially MD and SD. The results suggest that drought tolerance is greatly enhanced in transgenic rice plants overexpressing C4 photosynthesis enzymes. This study was performed under natural conditions and normal planting density to evaluate yield advantages on a field basis. It may open a new avenue to drought-tolerance breeding via overexpression of C4 enzymes in rice.