Physiological and transcriptomic strategies related to photosynthesis of rice in response to vanadium stress

Abstract

Vanadium (V) is recognized as an environmental contaminant that affects plant growth and development. However, the photosynthetic response of plants to V stress at molecular level remains unclear. In this study, we examined the photosynthetic responses of two rice varieties (Oryza sativa L.) with diverse V tolerance under various V levels (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 mg L−1) using physiological, cytological, and transcriptomic approaches. Our findings indicated that V stress significantly reduced the photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll content in both genotypes, with the V-sensitive rice displaying a more pronounced reduction. Furthermore, we observed numerous plastoglobuli, deformed stroma, and ruptured thylakoid membranes in the chloroplasts of the V-sensitive rice. In transcriptome analysis, we found 34 differentially expressed genes of 21 enzymes potentially affect chlorophyll metabolism. Among them, most of the genes involved in chlorophyll biosynthesis and phototoxic intermediate degradation were down-regulated under V stress, while chlorophyll degradation-related genes exhibited up-regulation. In addition, the different expression levels of genes encoding uroporphyrinogen III synthase (UROS), protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO), chlorophyllase (CLH), pheophorbide a oxygenase (PAO), and red chlorophyll catabolite reductase (RCCR) between the two rice varieties may indicate a potential tolerance mechanism in rice plants in response to V stress. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying plant tolerance to V toxicity, while also highlighting potential targets for improving plant tolerance in V-contaminated soils.