title: Photosynthesis in C3-C4 intermediate Moricandia species.
abstract: Evolution of C4photosynthesis is not distributed evenly in the plant kingdom. Particularly interesting is the situation in the Brassicaceae, because the family contains no C4species, but several C3-C4intermediates, mainly in the genus Moricandia Investigation of leaf anatomy, gas exchange parameters, the metabolome, and the transcriptome of two C3-C4intermediate Moricandia species, M. arvensis and M. suffruticosa, and their close C3relative M. moricandioides enabled us to unravel the specific C3-C4characteristics in these Moricandia lines. Reduced CO2compensation points in these lines were accompanied by anatomical adjustments, such as centripetal concentration of organelles in the bundle sheath, and metabolic adjustments, such as the balancing of C and N metabolism between mesophyll and bundle sheath cells by multiple pathways. Evolution from C3to C3-C4intermediacy was probably facilitated first by loss of one copy of the glycine decarboxylase P-protein, followed by dominant activity of a bundle sheath-specific element in its promoter. In contrast to recent models, installation of the C3-C4pathway was not accompanied by enhanced activity of the C4cycle. Our results indicate that metabolic limitations connected to N metabolism or anatomical limitations connected to vein density could have constrained evolution of C4in Moricandia.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich Heine University, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Urte
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schlüter
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich Heine University, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.|Network Analysis and Modelling, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Research (IPK), OT Gatersleben, Corrensstr. 3, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bräutigam
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Molecular and Developmental Biology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich Heine University, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gowik
authors.affiliation: Structural Cell Biology, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Research (IPK), OT Gatersleben, Corrensstr. 3, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Melzer
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
authors.forename: Pascal-Antoine
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Christin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich Heine University, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kurz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich Heine University, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Tabea
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mettler-Altmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich Heine University, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany Andreas.Weber@uni-duesseldorf.de.
authors.forename: Andreas Pm
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0970-4672
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Weber
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D019607:Brassicaceae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D050959:Glycine Decarboxylase Complex / Q000235:genetics*; D055442:Metabolome; D010788:Photosynthesis; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D050959:Glycine Decarboxylase Complex
keywords: 
  Moricandia.; Bundle sheath; C3–C4 intermediacy; C4 photosynthesis; evolution; glycine decarboxylase