title: Comparative analyses of C₄ and C₃ photosynthesis in developing leaves of maize and rice.
abstract: C₄ and C₃ photosynthesis differ in the efficiency with which they consume water and nitrogen. Engineering traits of the more efficient C₄ photosynthesis into C₃ crops could substantially increase crop yields in hot, arid conditions. To identify differences between C₄ and C₃ photosynthetic mechanisms, we profiled metabolites and gene expression in the developing leaves of Zea mays (maize), a C₄ plant, and Oryza sativa (rice), a C₃ plant, using a statistical method named the unified developmental model (UDM). Candidate cis-regulatory elements and transcription factors that might regulate photosynthesis were identified, together with differences between C₄ and C₃ nitrogen and carbon metabolism. The UDM algorithms could be applied to analyze and compare development in other species. These data sets together with community viewers to access and mine them provide a resource for photosynthetic research that will inform efforts to engineer improvements in carbon fixation in economically valuable grass crops.
authors.affiliation: The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Wissenschaftspark Golm, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Czedik-Eysenberg
authors.affiliation: The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Rachel A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Mertz
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA.
authors.forename: Yaqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Si
authors.affiliation: The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Wissenschaftspark Golm, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tohge
authors.affiliation: The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Wissenschaftspark Golm, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nunes-Nesi
authors.affiliation: The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Wissenschaftspark Golm, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arrivault
authors.affiliation: The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Dedow
authors.affiliation: The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: The Chinese Academy of Sciences-Max Planck Society Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jiajia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Sarit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weissmann
authors.affiliation: The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Studer
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Hainan, Haikou, China.
authors.forename: Pinghua
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
authors.forename: Cankui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Therese
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: LaRue
authors.affiliation: The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Hainan, Haikou, China.
authors.forename: Zehong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Computational Biology Service Unit, Life Sciences Core Laboratories Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Systems Biology/Center for the Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Rohan V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Turgeon
authors.affiliation: The Chinese Academy of Sciences-Max Planck Society Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xinguang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Systems Biology/Center for the Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Provart
authors.affiliation: The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Todd C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Mockler
authors.affiliation: The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Wissenschaftspark Golm, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Alisdair R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Fernie
authors.affiliation: The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Wissenschaftspark Golm, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stitt
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 1] The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. [2] Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Grain Crops and National Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Brutnell
mesh_terms: D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D012275:Oryza / Q000502:physiology*; D010788:Photosynthesis; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism; D003313:Zea mays / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D009584:Nitrogen