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Effects of Formaldehyde Stress on Physiological Characteristics and Gene Expression Associated with Photosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Abstract

Leaf chlorosis and bleach in plants under formaldehyde (HCHO) stress has been observed in previous studies. To better understand the mechanism of HCHO inhibition on photosynthesis, effects of HCHO stress on physiological characteristics and gene expression associated with photosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana were investigated in this study. The results indicated that HCHO stress reduced total chlorophyll (Chl) and Chl b content but increased Chl a content and a/b ratio in Arabidopsis. Suppression subtractive hybridization analysis identified 22 potential HCHO-repressive genes associated with photosynthesis. Furthermore, RT-PCR data showed that transcriptional levels of Lhcb2.1, Lhcb3, Lhca4, RBCS1A, RCA, Psao, Psbo, and Psbp were reduced to their lowest levels at 4 h after Arabidopsis was treated with 2–4 mM HCHO. The restoration in expression levels of Lhcb3, Lhca4, RBCS1A, and Psbp as well as up-regulation in Lhcb2.1 and RCA transcription was observed from 12 to 24 h after HCHO treatment. 13C-NMR analysis revealed that change patterns of endogenous glucose content were similar to expression patterns of these genes under HCHO stress from 0.5 to 24 h. The glucose content decreased to the lowest level at 4 h, accompanied by a potent inhibition on the capacity of CO2 assimilation caused by exogenous HCHO. From 4 to 24 h of HCHO stress, exogenous HCHO was efficiently metabolized and converted to glucose, which allowed the glucose content to be restored to its original level; thus, repressive effects of HCHO stress on expressions of photosynthesis-related genes were eliminated. These results suggested a correlation between HCHO metabolic level and expression levels of photosynthesis-related genes in vivo during this period. However, a second reduction in expressions of these genes after 36 h might be attributed to other effects triggered by HCHO stress.

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Abbreviations

HCHO:

Formaldehyde

C1:

One carbon unit

FALDH:

Glutathione-dependent HCHO dehydrogenase

SSH:

Suppression subtractive hybridization

Chl:

Chlorophyll

Lhca4 :

Photosystem I light harvesting complex gene 4

Lhcb2.1 :

Photosystem II light harvesting complex gene 2.1

Lhcb3 :

Photosystem II light harvesting complex gene 3

Psao :

Extrinsic protein of PSI

Psbo :

Extrinsic manganese-stabilizing protein of PSII

Psbp :

Extrinsic protein of PSII

RBCS1A:

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase small subunit 1A

RCA:

Rubisco activase

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant # 30970263 to L.M.C.) and by the Foundation of Yunnan Province and Kunming University of Science and Technology for Training Adult and Young Leaders of Science and Technology in Yunnan (grant # 2004PY01-5 to L.M.C.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Chenggong, Kunming, 650500, China

    Sha-Sha Wang

  2. Faculty of Life Science and Biotechnology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Chenggong, Kunming, 650500, China

    Sha-Sha Wang, Zhong-Bang Song, Zhen Sun, Jing Zhang, Yan Mei, Hong-Juan Nian, Kun-Zhi Li & Li-Mei Chen

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  1. Sha-Sha Wang
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Correspondence to Li-Mei Chen.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Online Resource 1

Potential HCHO-repressive genes (except transcripts related photosynthesis and chloroplast structure) identified by SSH analysis (PDF 23 kb)

Online Resource 2

The 13C-NMR spectra of leaf extracts from the plants stressed with 2 mM HCHO for 0.5 (d), 4 (c), 12 (b), and 24 h (a). Complete 13C-NMR spectra (left) and expanded regions of 13C-Gluc signal peaks (right) are shown. The analysis was conducted as described in the “Materials and Methods.” e The sample without treatment. Ref, formamide (166.85 ppm). Arrows indicated the 12 signal peaks of 13C-Gluc (PDF 544 kb)

Online Resource 3

The 13C-NMR spectra of leaf extracts from the control (CK) plants grown on MS agar medium without HCHO stress for 0.5 (d), 4 (c), 12 (b), and 24 h (a). Complete 13C-NMR spectra (left) and expanded regions of the 13C-Gluc signal peaks (right) are shown. e The sample without treatment. Arrows indicated the 12 signal peaks of 13C-Gluc (PDF 557 kb)

Online Resource 4

The 13C-NMR spectra of leaf extracts from the plants labeled with 2 mM H13CHO for 0.5 (d), 4 (c), 12 (b), and 24 h (a). Complete 13C-NMR spectra (left) and expanded regions of the 13C-Gluc signal peaks (right) are shown. The analysis was conducted as described in “Materials and Methods.” e The sample without treatment. Dotted box indicated the 12 signal peaks of 13C-Gluc (PDF 562 kb)

Online Resource 5

Complete 13C-NMR spectra of leaf extracts from the plants treated with 5 mM NaH13CO3 in the presence and absence of 2 mM HCHO stress. The analysis was conducted as described in the “Materials and Methods.” a–e As in Fig. 5 (PDF 510 kb)

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Wang, SS., Song, ZB., Sun, Z. et al. Effects of Formaldehyde Stress on Physiological Characteristics and Gene Expression Associated with Photosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana . Plant Mol Biol Rep 30, 1291–1302 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-012-0440-8

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