Developmental Genetics of C4 Photosynthesis

Expression of Photosynthesis-Related Genes during the Leaf Development of a C3Plant Rice as Visualized byIn SituHybridization

“…In developing leaf blades of a C 4 plant maize, Rubisco large and small subunit genes are expressed in a ring of cells tightly surrounding the region of provascular cell division (Nelson and Langdale, 1992). This position-specifi c expression occurs at a time in the leaf primordium when neither bundle sheath nor mesophyll is morphologically distinct.…”

Systems Analysis of a Maize Leaf Developmental Gradient Redefines the Current C4 Model and Provides Candidates for Regulation

“…Maize leaves were previously hypothesized to undergo a C 3 -to-C 4 transition. That is, the program initiating C 4 photosynthesis was proposed being switched on in a particular region of the leaf (summarized in Nelson and Langdale, 1992). This switch, if existent, was an important target for understanding C 4 genesis and thus replicating it in making C 4 rice.…”

“…In plants, grass leaves represent an excellent model in which the establishment of various functions can be followed in a base-to-tip developmental gradient in a single leaf. Cells at the tip of the leaf are the oldest and most mature cells, while cells at the base are the youngest (Nelson and Langdale, 1992). We chose maize (Zea mays) to follow the establishment of photosynthetic functions during leaf development.…”

“…Maize employs the highly efficient C 4 type of photosynthesis, which concurrently evolved in multiple seed plant families ;15 to 40 million years ago, long after C 3 photosynthesis had been established (Edwards and Smith, 2010). It has been previously proposed that the evolutionary progression from C 3 to C 4 can also be detected in maize leaves along a spatial gradient (Nelson and Langdale, 1992, and references therein), very much like Haeckel suggested that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny during embryo development in animals (Haeckel, 1866). C 4 photosynthesis has been considered a possible route for spawning a second green revolution in C 3 crop plants, such as rice (Oryza sativa) (Hibberd et al, 2008).…”

Functional Differentiation of Bundle Sheath and Mesophyll Maize Chloroplasts Determined by Comparative Proteomics

“…Leaves in C4 plants such as maize (Zea mays) form a classical Kranz leaf anatomy during their development (Edwards and Walker, 1983;Nelson and Langdale, 1992). In this Kranz anatomy, each vein is surrounded by a ring of bundle sheath (BS) cells, followed by one or more concentric files of mesophyll (M) cells.…”