Rice contains genetically and ecologically diverse wild and cultivated species that show a wide variation in plant and leaf architecture. A systematic characterization of leaf anatomy is essential in understanding the dynamics behind such diversity. Therefore, leaf anatomies of 24 Oryza species spanning 11 genetically diverse rice genomes were studied in both lateral and longitudinal directions and possible evolutionary trends were examined. A significant inter-species variation in mesophyll cells, bundle sheath cells, and vein structure was observed, suggesting precise genetic control over these major rice leaf anatomical traits. Cellular dimensions, measured along three growth axes, were further combined proportionately to construct three-dimensional (3D) leaf anatomy models to compare the relative size and orientation of the major cell types present in a fully expanded leaf. A reconstruction of the ancestral leaf state revealed that the following are the major characteristics of recently evolved rice species: fewer veins, larger and laterally elongated mesophyll cells, with an increase in total mesophyll area and in bundle sheath cell number. A huge diversity in leaf anatomy within wild and domesticated rice species has been portrayed in this study, on an evolutionary context, predicting a two-pronged evolutionary pathway leading to the ‘sativa leaf type’ that we see today in domesticated species.

No abstract

C4 photosynthesis provides an effective solution for overcoming the catalytic inefficiency of Rubisco. The pathway is characterised by a biochemical CO2 concentrating mechanism that operates across mesophyll and bundle sheath (BS) cells and relies on a gas tight BS compartment. A screen of a mutant population of Setaria viridis, an NADP-malic enzyme type C4 monocot, generated using N-nitroso-N-methylurea identified a mutant with an amino acid change in the gene coding region of the ABCG transporter, a step in the suberin synthesis pathway. Here, Nile red staining, TEM, and GC/MS confirmed the alteration in suberin deposition in the BS cell wall of the mutant. We show that this has disrupted the suberin lamellae of BS cell wall and increased BS conductance to CO2 diffusion more than two-fold in the mutant. Consequently, BS CO2 partial pressure is reduced and CO2 assimilation was impaired in the mutant. Our findings provide experimental evidence that a functional suberin lamellae is an essential anatomical feature for efficient C4 photosynthesis in NADP-ME plants like S. viridis and have implications for engineering strategies to ensure future food security.

Salt-induced growth reduction of plants is a well-known phenomenon which poses major problem in crop productivity in places where vast majority of land plants are affected by salt. In this report, studies were carried out to reveal the effect of salt injury on the cell division pattern in roots and the role of myo-inositol in preventing the salt-induced ion disequilibrium on the chromosome and DNA degradation in roots. Present study revealed induction of various chromosomal abnormalities on the root tip mitotic cells of Allium cepa by treatment with different concentrations of NaCl (0-500 mM) for 24 h as also the amelioration of such effect by prior treatment of the roots with different concentration of myo-inositol (0-300 mM). Results showed that a narrow albeit definite range of extracellular myo-inositol (100-150 mM) is effective in preventing internucleosomal fragmentation which is the early response in roots under salt stress. Transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing Oryza (OsINO1) as well as Porteresia (PcINO1) cytosolic L: -myo-inositol-1-phosphate synthase coding genes can withstand and retain their chromosomal and DNA integrity in 100 mM NaCl solution and can subsequently prevent DNA fragmentation, caused by intracellular endonuclease activity at this salt concentration.

Background: Stomata in rice control a number of physiological processes by regulating gas and water exchange between the atmosphere and plant tissues. The impact of the structural diversity of these micropores on its conductance level is an important area to explore before introducing stomatal traits into any breeding program in order to increase photosynthesis and crop yield. Therefore, an intensive measurement of structural components of stomatal complex (SC) of twenty three Oryza species spanning the primary, secondary and tertiary gene pools of rice has been conducted. Results: Extensive diversity was found in stomatal number and size in different Oryza species and Oryza complexes. Interestingly, the dynamics of stomatal traits in Oryza family varies differently within different Oryza genetic complexes. Example, the Sativa complex exhibits the greatest diversity in stomatal number, while the Officinalis complex is more diverse for its stomatal size. Combining the structural information with the Oryza phylogeny revealed that speciation has tended towards increasing stomatal density rather than stomatal size in rice family. Thus, the most recent species (i.e. the domesticated rice) eventually has developed smaller yet numerous stomata. Along with this, speciation has also resulted in a steady increase in stomatal conductance (anatomical, g max) in different Oryza species. These two results unambiguously prove that increasing stomatal number (which results in stomatal size reduction) has increased the stomatal conductance in rice. Correlations of structural traits with the anatomical conductance, leaf carbon isotope discrimination (Δ 13 C) and major leaf morphological and anatomical traits provide strong supports to untangle the ever mysterious dependencies of these traits in rice. The result displayed an expected negative correlation in the number and size of stomata; and positive correlations among the stomatal length, width and area with guard cell length, width on both abaxial and adaxial leaf surfaces. In addition, g max is found to be positively correlated with stomatal number and guard cell length. The Δ 13 C values of rice species showed a positive correlation with stomatal number, which suggest an increased water loss with increased stomatal number. Interestingly, in contrast, the Δ 13 C consistently shows a negative relationship with stomatal and guard cell size, which suggests that the water loss is less when the stomata are larger. Therefore, we hypothesize that increasing stomatal size, instead of numbers, is a better approach for breeding programs in order to minimize the water loss through stomata in rice.