title: Defects in leaf carbohydrate metabolism compromise acclimation to high light and lead to a high chlorophyll fluorescence phenotype in Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We have studied the impact of carbohydrate-starvation on the acclimation response to high light using Arabidopsis thaliana double mutants strongly impaired in the day- and night path of photoassimilate export from the chloroplast. A complete knock-out mutant of the triose phosphate/phosphate translocator (TPT; tpt-2 mutant) was crossed to mutants defective in (i) starch biosynthesis (adg1-1, pgm1 and pgi1-1; knock-outs of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, plastidial phosphoglucomutase and phosphoglucose isomerase) or (ii) starch mobilization (sex1-3, knock-out of glucan water dikinase) as well as in (iii) maltose export from the chloroplast (mex1-2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  All double mutants were viable and indistinguishable from the wild type when grown under low light conditions, but--except for sex1-3/tpt-2--developed a high chlorophyll fluorescence (HCF) phenotype and growth retardation when grown in high light. Immunoblots of thylakoid proteins, Blue-Native gel electrophoresis and chlorophyll fluorescence emission analyses at 77 Kelvin with the adg1-1/tpt-2 double mutant revealed that HCF was linked to a specific decrease in plastome-encoded core proteins of both photosystems (with the exception of the PSII component cytochrome b559), whereas nuclear-encoded antennae (LHCs) accumulated normally, but were predominantly not attached to their photosystems. Uncoupled antennae are the major cause for HCF of dark-adapted plants. Feeding of sucrose or glucose to high light-grown adg1-1/tpt-2 plants rescued the HCF- and growth phenotypes. Elevated sugar levels induce the expression of the glucose-6-phosphate/phosphate translocator2 (GPT2), which in principle could compensate for the deficiency in the TPT. A triple mutant with an additional defect in GPT2 (adg1-1/tpt-2/gpt2-1) exhibited an identical rescue of the HCF- and growth phenotype in response to sugar feeding as the adg1-1/tpt-2 double mutant, indicating that this rescue is independent from the sugar-triggered induction of GPT2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We propose that cytosolic carbohydrate availability modulates acclimation to high light in A. thaliana. It is conceivable that the strong relationship between the chloroplast and nucleus with respect to a co-ordinated expression of photosynthesis genes is modified in carbohydrate-starved plants. Hence carbohydrates may be considered as a novel component involved in chloroplast-to-nucleus retrograde signaling, an aspect that will be addressed in future studies.
authors.affiliation: University of Cologne, Botanical Institute, Biocenter Cologne, Zülpicher Str. 47B, D-50674 Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.forename: Mark Aurel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Schöttler
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krueger
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Geimer
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kleine
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Leister
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: Ulf-Ingo
authors.initials: UI
authors.lastname: Flügge
authors.forename: Rainer E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Häusler
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000378:metabolism; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism; D004579:Electron Transport; D005453:Fluorescence; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D055786:Gene Knockout Techniques; D017343:Genes, Plant; D051599:Glucose-1-Phosphate Adenylyltransferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005956:Glucose-6-Phosphate Isomerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008027:Light; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010641:Phenotype; D010733:Phosphoglucomutase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010788:Photosynthesis; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects; D013213:Starch / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D002734:Chlorophyll; D013213:Starch; C496715:ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, Arabidopsis; D051599:Glucose-1-Phosphate Adenylyltransferase; D005956:Glucose-6-Phosphate Isomerase; D010733:Phosphoglucomutase