EFFECT OF DROUGHT, ELEVATED TEMPERATURE, AND THEIR COMBINATION ON PHOTOSYNTHETIC GENES EXPRESSION IN CHENOPODIUM QUINOA WILLD. AND AMARANTHUS RETROFLEXUS Lстатья
Аннотация:The aridization of the climate implies increasing temperatures and more frequent droughts. For this reason, the study of the effect of these factors separately, and especially of their combined influence, is of great importance. For the study, we have chosen two alternative crops with different photosynthesis type: C3 species Chenopodium quinoa Willd. and C4 species Amaranthus retroflexus L. The expression of genes encoding the main photosynthetic enzymes Rubisco and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase PEPC (rbcL, rbcS, Ppc1 and Ppc2), major components of photosystems (PS) I and II (psaA, psaB and psbA), the main (PRG5) and the second (ndhD(B)) pathways of cyclic electron transport around photosystem I (CET PS I) and chlorophyll a/b-binding protein LHCB/CAB PS II (LHCB) under drought, elevated temperature (eT), and their combination was studied. Our results showed that drought negatively affected the expression of gene, which codes photosynthetic enzymes: Rubisco in both species, and the C4 enzyme PEPC in C4 species A. retroflexus. In A. retroflexus, decreased expression of the ndhB gene of the second CET PS I pathway associated with the C4 cycle was also observed. Under elevated temperature rbcS expression was increased in C. quinoa, which is probably related to the regulatory function of Rubisco small subunit. Moreover, upregulation of LHCB (chlorophyll a/b-binding protein) and PRG5 (the main CET PS I pathway) expression may be a protective response to maintain the activity of linear and cyclic electron transport. Elevated temperature had a more negative effect on the expression of genes encoding PS I and PS II components in A. retroflexus than drought. At the same time, eT did not decrease the expression of C4-enzyme PEPC genes and stimulated the expression of the gene of the second CET PS I pathway associated with C4 cycle (ndhB) in A. retroflexus. The combined effect of the two factors created a synergistic effect on the expression of Ppc1,2 and psaA,B in C. quinoa, and rbcL in A. retroflexus. In general, in C. quinoa, the genes encoding PS I components were most sensitive to the combined effect of the two factors, which may lead to a decrease in PS I efficiency. In A. retroflexus, the combined effect of the two factors mitigated the negative effect of drought on PS I components genes and upregulated the expression of two CET PS I pathways genes, presumably to maintain the required level of CET PS I activity.