Overexpression of the Phosphoserine Phosphatase-Encoding Gene (AtPSP1) Promotes Starch Accumulation in Lemna turionifera 5511 under Sulfur Deficiency

Lei Wang; Yingying Kuang; Siyu Zheng; Yana Tong; Yerong Zhu; Yong Wang

doi:10.3390/plants12051012

Overexpression of the Phosphoserine Phosphatase-Encoding Gene (AtPSP1) Promotes Starch Accumulation in Lemna turionifera 5511 under Sulfur Deficiency

Plants (Basel). 2023 Feb 23;12(5):1012. doi: 10.3390/plants12051012.

Authors

Lei Wang¹, Yingying Kuang¹, Siyu Zheng¹, Yana Tong², Yerong Zhu¹, Yong Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
² Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Tianjin 300192, China.

Abstract

Duckweeds are well known for their high accumulation of starch under stress conditions, along with inhibited growth. The phosphorylation pathway of serine biosynthesis (PPSB) was reported as playing a vital role in linking the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur metabolism in this plant. The overexpression of AtPSP1, the last key enzyme of the PPSB pathway in duckweed, was found to stimulate the accumulation of starch under sulfur-deficient conditions. The growth- and photosynthesis-related parameters were higher in the AtPSP1 transgenic plants than in the WT. The transcriptional analysis showed that the expression of several genes in starch synthesis, TCA, and sulfur absorption, transportation, and assimilation was significantly up- or downregulated. The study suggests that PSP engineering could improve starch accumulation in Lemna turionifera 5511 by coordinating the carbon metabolism and sulfur assimilation under sulfur-deficient conditions.

Keywords: AtPSP1 overexpression; Lemna turionifera 5511; starch accumulation; sulfur deficiency.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 31970365) and Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences Youth Science and Technology Innovation General Project (No.2022006).