Engineering the cyanobacterial ATP-driven BCT1 bicarbonate transporter for functional targeting to C3 plant chloroplasts.

The ATP-driven bicarbonate transporter 1 (BCT1), a four-component complex in the cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating mechanism, could enhance photosynthetic CO2 assimilation in plant chloroplasts. However, directing its subunits (CmpA, CmpB, CmpC and CmpD) to three chloroplast sub-compartments is highly complex. Investigating BCT1 integration into Nicotiana benthamiana chloroplasts revealed promising targeting strategies using transit peptides from the intermembrane space protein Tic22 for correct CmpA targeting, while the transit peptide of the chloroplastic ABCD2 transporter effectively targeted CmpB to the inner envelope membrane. CmpC and CmpD were targeted to the stroma by RecA and recruited to the inner envelope membrane by CmpB. Despite successful targeting, expression of this complex in CO2-dependent Escherichia coli failed to demonstrate bicarbonate uptake. We then used rational design and directed evolution to generate new BCT1 forms that were constitutively active. Several mutants were recovered, including a CmpCD fusion. Selected mutants were further characterized and stably expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana, but the transformed plants did not have higher carbon assimilation rates or decreased CO2 compensation points in mature leaves. While further analysis is required, this directed evolution and heterologous testing approach presents potential for iterative modification and assessment of CO2-concentrating mechanism components to improve plant photosynthesis.

Carbonic anhydrases in the cell wall and plasma membrane of Arabidopsis thaliana are required for optimal plant growth on low CO2.

Introduction: Plants have many genes encoding both alpha and beta type carbonic anhydrases. Arabidopsis has eight alpha type and six beta type carbonic anhydrase genes. Individual carbonic anhydrases are localized to specific compartments within the plant cell. In this study, we investigate the roles of αCA2 and ßCA4.1 in the growth of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana under different CO2 regimes. Methods: Here, we identified the intracellular location of αCA2 and ßCA4.1 by linking the coding region of each gene to a fluorescent tag. Tissue expression was determined by investigating GUS expression driven by the αCA2 and ßCA4.1 promoters. Finally, the role of these proteins in plant growth and photosynthesis was tested in plants with T-DNA insertions in the αCA2 and ßCA4 genes. Results: Fluorescently tagged proteins showed that αCA2 is localized to the cell wall and ßCA4.1 to the plasma membrane in plant leaves. Both proteins were expressed in roots and shoots. Plants missing either αCA2 or ßCA4 did not show any growth defects under the conditions tested in this study. However, if both αCA2 and ßCA4 were disrupted, plants had a significantly smaller above- ground fresh weight and rosette area than Wild Type (WT) plants when grown at 200 µL L-1 CO2 but not at 400 and 1,000 µL L-1 CO2. Growth of the double mutant plants at 200 µL L-1 CO2 was restoredif either αCA2 or ßCA4.1 was transformed back into the double mutant plants. Discussion: Both the cell wall and plasma membrane CAs, αCA2 and ßCA4.1 had to be knocked down to produce an effect on Arabidopsis growth and only when grown in a CO2 concentration that was significantly below ambient. This indicates that αCA2 and ßCA4.1 have overlapping functions since the growth of lines where only one of these CAs was knocked down was indistinguishable from WT growth. The growth results and cellular locations of the two CAs suggest that together, αCA2 and ßCA4.1 play an important role in the delivery of CO2 and HCO3 - to the plant cell.

The Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast envelope protein LCIA transports bicarbonate in planta.

LCIA (low CO2-inducible protein A) is a chloroplast envelope protein associated with the CO2-concentrating mechanism of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. LCIA is postulated to be a HCO3- channel, but previous studies were unable to show that LCIA was actively transporting bicarbonate in planta. Therefore, LCIA activity was investigated more directly in two heterologous systems: an Escherichia coli mutant (DCAKO) lacking both native carbonic anhydrases and an Arabidopsis mutant (ßca5) missing the plastid carbonic anhydrase ßCA5. Neither DCAKO nor ßca5 can grow in ambient CO2 conditions, as they lack carbonic anhydrase-catalyzed production of the necessary HCO3- concentration for lipid and nucleic acid biosynthesis. Expression of LCIA restored growth in both systems in ambient CO2 conditions, which strongly suggests that LCIA is facilitating HCO3- uptake in each system. To our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence that LCIA moves HCO3- across membranes in bacteria and plants. Furthermore, the ßca5 plant bioassay used in this study is the first system for testing HCO3- transport activity in planta, an experimental breakthrough that will be valuable for future studies aimed at improving the photosynthetic efficiency of crop plants using components from algal CO2-concentrating mechanisms.

Arabidopsis plastid carbonic anhydrase ßCA5 is important for normal plant growth.

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are zinc-metalloenzymes that catalyze the interconversion of CO2 and HCO3-. In heterotrophic organisms, CAs provide HCO3- for metabolic pathways requiring a carboxylation step. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) has 14 α- and ß-type CAs, two of which are plastid CAs designated as ßCA1 and ßCA5. To study their physiological properties, we obtained knock-out (KO) lines for ßCA1 (SALK_106570) and ßCA5 (SALK_121932). These mutant lines were confirmed by genomic PCR, RT-PCR, and immunoblotting. While ßca1 KO plants grew normally, growth of ßca5 KO plants was stunted under ambient CO2 conditions of 400 µL L-1; high CO2 conditions (30,000 µL L-1) partially rescued their growth. These results were surprising, as ßCA1 is more abundant than ßCA5 in leaves. However, tissue expression patterns of these genes indicated that ßCA1 is expressed only in shoot tissue, while ßCA5 is expressed throughout the plant. We hypothesize that ßCA5 compensates for loss of ßCA1 but, owing to its expression being limited to leaves, ßCA1 cannot compensate for loss of ßCA5. We also demonstrate that ßCA5 supplies HCO3- required for anaplerotic pathways that take place in plastids, such as fatty acid biosynthesis.