Combined Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Transcriptomic Analysis Identifies the P3/P4 Transition as a Key stage in Rice Leaf Photosynthetic Development

Leaves are derived from heterotrophic meristem tissue that, at some point, must make the transition to autotrophy via the initiation of photosynthesis. However, the timing and spatial coordination of the molecular and cellular processes underpinning this switch are poorly characterized. Here, we report on the identification of a specific stage in rice (Oryza sativa) leaf development (P3/P4 transition) when photosynthetic competence is first established. Using a combined physiological and molecular approach, we show that elements of stomatal and vascular differentiation are coordinated with the onset of measurable light absorption for photosynthesis. Moreover, by exploring the response of the system to environmental perturbation, we show that the earliest stages of rice leaf development have significant plasticity with respect to elements of cellular differentiation of relevance for mature leaf photosynthetic performance. Finally, by performing an RNA sequencing analysis targeted at the early stages of rice leaf development, we uncover a palette of genes whose expression likely underpins the acquisition of photosynthetic capability. Our results identify the P3/P4 transition as a highly dynamic stage in rice leaf development when several processes for the initiation of photosynthetic competence are coordinated. As well as identifying gene targets for future manipulation of rice leaf structure/function, our data highlight a developmental window during which such manipulations are likely to be most effective

Investigating the microstructure of plant leaves in 3D with lab-based X-ray Computed Tomography

Background Leaf cellular architecture plays an important role in setting limits for carbon assimilation and, thus, photosynthetic performance. However, the low density, fine structure, and sensitivity to desiccation of plant tissue has presented challenges to its quantification. Classical methods of tissue fixation and embedding prior to 2D microscopy of sections is both laborious and susceptible to artefacts that can skew the values obtained. Here we report an image analysis pipeline that provides quantitative descriptors of plant leaf intercellular airspace using lab-based X-ray Computed Tomography (microCT). We demonstrate successful visualisation and quantification of differences in leaf intercellular airspace in 3D for a range of species (including both dicots and monocots) and provide a comparison with a standard 2D analysis of leaf sections. Results We used the microCT image pipeline to obtain estimates of leaf porosity and mesophyll exposed surface area (Smes) for three dicot species (Arabidopsis, tomato and pea) and three monocot grasses (barley, oat and rice). The imaging pipeline consisted of (1) a masking operation to remove the background airspace surrounding the leaf, (2) segmentation by an automated threshold in ImageJ and then (3) quantification of the extracted pores using the ImageJ ‘Analyze Particles’ tool. Arabidopsis had the highest porosity and lowest Smes for the dicot species whereas barley had the highest porosity and the highest Smes for the grass species. Comparison of porosity and Smes estimates from 3D microCT analysis and 2D analysis of sections indicates that both methods provide a comparable estimate of porosity but the 2D method may underestimate Smes by almost 50%. A deeper study of porosity revealed similarities and differences in the asymmetric distribution of airspace between the species analysed. Conclusions Our results demonstrate the utility of high resolution imaging of leaf intercellular airspace networks by lab-based microCT and provide quantitative data on descriptors of leaf cellular architecture. They indicate there is a range of porosity and Smes values in different species and that there is not a simple relationship between these parameters, suggesting the importance of cell size, shape and packing in the determination of cellular parameters proposed to influence leaf photosynthetic performance

Temperature-mediated changes in microbial carbon use efficiency and ¹³C discrimination

Understanding how carbon dioxide (CO₂) flux from ecosystems feeds back to climate warming depends in part on our ability to quantify the efficiency with which microorganisms convert organic carbon (C) into either biomass or CO₂. Quantifying ecosystem-level respiratory CO₂ losses often also requires assumptions about stable C isotope fractionations associated with the microbial transformation of organic substrates. However, the diversity of organic substrates' <i>δ</i>¹³C and the challenges of measuring microbial C use efficiency (CUE) in their natural environment fundamentally limit our ability to project ecosystem C budgets in a warming climate. Here, we quantify the effect of temperature on C fluxes during metabolic transformations of cellobiose, a common microbial substrate, by a cosmopolitan microorganism growing at a constant rate. Biomass C specific respiration rate increased by 250 % between 13 and 26.5 °C, decreasing CUE from 77 to 56 %. Biomass C specific respiration rate was positively correlated with an increase in respiratory ¹³C discrimination from 4.4 to 6.7 ‰ across the same temperature range. This first demonstration of a direct link between temperature, microbial CUE, and associated isotope fluxes provides a critical step towards understanding <i>δ</i>¹³C of respired CO₂ at multiple scales, and towards a framework for predicting future ecosystem C fluxes