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Lack of potassium in soil limits crop yield. Increasing yield and conserving potassium ore requires improving K use efficiency (KUE). Many genes influence KUE in plants, but it is not clear how these genes function in the field. We identified the V-type H+-pyrophosphatase gene EdVP1 from Elymus dahurica. Gene expression analysis showed that EdVP1 was induced by low potassium stress. Protein subcellular localization analysis demonstrated that EdVP1 localized on the plasma membrane. We overexpressed EdVP1 in two wheat varieties and conducted K tolerance experiments across years. Yield per plant, grain number per spike, plant height, and K uptake of four transgenic wheat lines increased significantly compared with WT; results from two consecutive years showed that EdVP1 significantly increased yield and KUE of transgenic wheat. Pot experiments showed that transgenic plants had significantly longer shoots and roots, and higher K accumulation in shoots and roots and H+-PPase activity in shoots than WT under low K. A fluidity assay of potassium ion in EdVP1 transgenic plant roots showed that potassium ion influx and H+ outflow in transgenic plants were higher than WT. Overexpressing EdVP1 significantly improved yield and KUE of transgenic wheat and was related to higher K uptake capacity in root. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psb28 is a soluble protein in the photosystem II (PSII) complex, but its role in the drought stress response of wheat remains unclear. Here, we functionally characterized the TaPsb28 gene, which positively regulates drought tolerance in wheat. When the full-length 546-bp TaPsb28 cDNA was transferred into Arabidopsis thaliana, it was located in the guard cell chloroplast around the stroma. Overexpression of TaPsb28 conferred drought tolerance, as exhibited by the increases in the survival rate. Transgenic plants maintained lower MDA content and higher chlorophyll content by inducing chlorophyll synthase (ChlG) gene transcription. The content of abscisic acid (ABA) and zeatin increased significantly in wild-type (WT) plants under drought stress, and the transcriptional expression levels of RD22, dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) and anthocyanin reductase (ANR) genes were induced, thus enhancing the contents of endogenous cyanidin, delphinidin, and proanthocyanidins. However, in transgenic plants, although anthocyanins were further aggregated, the ABA increase was inhibited, zeatin was restored to the control level under drought stress, and stomatal closure was promoted. These findings indicate ABA and zeatin have opposite synergistic effects in the process of drought tolerance caused by TaPsb28 because only after the effect of zeatin is alleviated can ABA better play its role in promoting anthocyanin accumulation and stomatal closure, thus enhancing the drought tolerance of transgenic plants. The results suggest that overexpression of TaPsb28 exerts a positive role in the drought response by influencing the functional metabolism of endogenous hormones. The understanding acquired through the research laid a foundation for further in-depth investigation of the function of TaPsb28 in drought resistance in wheat, especially its relationship with anthocyanidin accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing drought tolerance of crops has been a great challenge in crop improvement. Here, we report the maize phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase ( PEPC) gene was able to confer drought tolerance and increase grain yield in transgenic wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) plants. The improved of drought tolerance was associated with higher levels of proline, soluble sugar, soluble protein, and higher water use efficiency. The transgenic wheat plants had also a more extensive root system as well as increased photosynthetic capacity during stress treatments. The increased grain yield of the transgenic wheat was contributed by improved biomass, larger spike and grain numbers, and heavier 1000-grain weight under drought-stress conditions. Under non-stressed conditions, there were no significant increases in these of the measured traits except for photosynthetic rate when compared with parental wheat. Proteomic research showed that the expression levels of some proteins, including chlorophyll A-B binding protein and pyruvate, phosphate dikinase, which are related to photosynthesis, PAP fibrillin, which is involved in cytoskeleton synthesis, S-adenosylmethionine synthetase, which catalyzes methionine synthesis, were induced in the transgenic wheat under drought stress. Additionally, the expression of glutamine synthetase, which is involved in ammonia assimilation, was induced by drought stress in the wheat. Our study shows that PEPC can improve both stress tolerance and grain yield in wheat, demonstrating the efficacy of PEPC in crop improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using particle bombardment transformation, we introduced maize pepc cDNA encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) and ppdk cDNA encoding pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK) into the C crop wheat to generate transgenic wheat lines carrying cDNA of pepc (PC lines), ppdk (PK lines) or both (PKC lines). The integration, transcription, and expression of the foreign genes were confirmed by Southern blot, Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (Q-RT-PCR), and Western blot analysis. Q-RT-PCR results indicated that the average relative expression levels of pepc and ppdk in the PKC lines reached 10 and 4.6, respectively, compared to their expressions in untransformed plants (set to 1). The enzyme activities of PEPC and PPDK in the PKC lines were 4.3- and 2.1-fold higher, respectively, than in the untransformed control. The maximum daily net photosynthetic rates of the PKC, PC, and PK lines were enhanced by 26.4, 13.3, and 4.5 %, respectively, whereas the diurnal accumulations of photosynthesis were 21.3, 13.9, and 6.9 %, respectively, higher than in the control. The F/F of the transgenic plants decreased less than in the control under high temperature and high light conditions (2 weeks after anthesis), suggesting that the transgenic wheat transports more absorbed light energy into a photochemical reaction. The exogenous maize C-specific pepc gene was more effective than ppdk at improving the photosynthetic performance and yield characteristics of transgenic wheat, while the two genes showed a synergistic effect when they were transformed into the same genetic background, because the PKC lines exhibited improved photosynthetic and physiological traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With 7 figures and 2 tables Abstract Attempts have been made to transform C3 crops with C4 genes to improve the photosynthetic rate of C3 plants. In our study, a full-length cDNA for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase gene ( pepc) was isolated from Zea mays by PCR. The pepc gene was introduced into wheat plants ( Triticum aestivum) by particle bombardment transformation. The integration, transcription and expression of the pepc gene were confirmed by Southern blot, RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Physiological studies showed that phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity in the transgenic plants was 140% higher than that of the untransformed plants. The highest rate of photosynthesis in the transgenic plants was 31.95 μmol CO2/m2/s, which was 26% greater than the rate in untransformed plants. The light saturation point and carboxylation efficiency of pepc transgenic wheat were 20% and 22.57% higher, respectively, than those of untransformed wheat. As a result, the weight of seed per spike and thousand-grain weight were 0.23 g and 1.21 g higher than those of untransformed wheat. Our research will facilitate the further study of the function of the pepc gene in wheat plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]