Regulation and evolution of chlorophyll metabolism

Abstract

Chlorophylls are the most abundant tetrapyrrole molecules essential for photosynthesis in photosynthetic organisms. After many years of intensive research, most of the genes encoding the enzymes for the pathway have been identified, and recently the underlying molecular mechanisms have been elucidated. These studies revealed that the regulation of chlorophyll metabolism includes all levels of control to allow a balanced metabolic flow in response to external and endogenous factors and to ensure adaptation to varying needs of chlorophyll during plant development. Furthermore, identification of biosynthetic genes from various organisms and genetic analysis of functions of identified genes enables us to predict the evolutionary scenario of chlorophyll metabolism. In this review, based on recent findings, we discuss the regulation and evolution of chlorophyll metabolism.

Chlorophyll b degradation by chlorophyll b reductase under high-light conditions

“…Feedback controls constitute one of the regulation mechanisms for chlorophyll synthesis (Masuda and Fujita 2008). Feedback regulation of chlorophyll b synthesis by CAO has also been reported (Yamasato et al 2005).…”

Quantitative Genetic Analysis of Chlorophyll during Dark-induced Senescence at Seedling Stage in Recombinant Inbred Line Population of Maize

“…The same phenomenon was observed for DS despite significant differences in the DS between parents and the population variant (Table 1). It is possible that extensive regulation occurs among different parts of the leaves and the chlorophyll pigment of the first leaf may have been transported to the second leaf to maintain healthy growth (Masuda and Fujita, 2008). Most of the QTLs for same traits such as LS and DF were also clustered with a common chromosomal region (Table 3) suggesting that these regions may harbor more than one gene or are involved in various interactions involving different functional genes.…”

“…Furthermore, chlorophyll degradation is not finely regulated and intermediate chlorophyll degradation molecules such as pheophorbide a accumulate and induce cell death in both light-dependent (Palaisa et al, 2003;Tanaka et al, 2003) and light-independent manner (Hirashima et al, 2009). Thus the metabolism of chlorophyll is highly regulated during plant development to maintain healthy growth (Masuda and Fujita, 2008). In addition, the chlorophyll cycle which involves the interconversion between chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b is thought to be important for the adjustment of the ratio of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b ratio in various physiological conditions (Ito and Tanaka, 1996;Rüdiger, 2002) and plays a crucial role in the processes of greening acclimation to light intensity, seed formation and senescence.…”

Effect of cytoplasmic male sterility type on chlorophyll content in leaves of grain sorghum hybrids

“…Очевидно, что посредством ретроградных сигналов хлоропласты и мито-хондрии могут регулировать экспрессию ядерных генов, которые кодируют компоненты фотосистем �� и ����, а также различных ферментных систем, локализованных в этих органеллах. Важная роль ретроградных пластидных сиг-сиг-налов отмечена и для биосинтеза хлорофилла (Юрина, отмечена и для биосинтеза хлорофилла (Юрина, Одинцова, 2007), накопление которого контролируется ядерным геномом (Eckhardt et al, 2004;Bollivar, 2006;Masuda, Fujita, 2008). Такая скоординированная работа митохондриального, ядерного и хлоропластного геномов позволяет предположить, что генетически различные типы цитоплазм могут влиять на содержание хлорофил-ла в фотосинтезирующих тканях растения и тем самым определять интенсивность фотосинтеза и урожайность сельскохозяйственных культур (Адрианова, Тарчевский, 2000).…”