Complementation of the nuclear antisense rbcS-induced photosynthesis deficiency by introducing an rbcS gene into the tobacco plastid genome.

The small subunit (SS) of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) is a nuclear gene-encoded protein that is imported into chloroplasts where it assembles with the large subunit (LS) after removal of the transit peptide to form Rubisco. We have explored the possibility that the severe deficiency in photosynthesis exhibited in nuclear transgenic tobacco (line alpha5) expressing antisense rbcS coding DNA that results in low SS and Rubisco protein content [Rodermel et al. (1988) Cell 55: 673] could be complemented by introducing a copy of the rbcS gene into its plastid genome through chloroplast transformation.

Light modulation of Rubisco in Arabidopsis requires a capacity for redox regulation of the larger Rubisco activase isoform.

The light activation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) in vivo requires the presence of Rubisco activase, a nuclear-encoded chloroplast protein that consists of two isoforms arising from alternative splicing in most plants. We examined the function of each isoform by characterizing Rubisco activation in transgenic Arabidopsis plants that express only one or both isoforms, as compared with the wild type. In plants expressing only the shorter isoform, Rubisco activity was as high as in the wild type under saturating light, but the activity was not down-regulated at intensities limiting for photosynthesis.