Physiological and photosynthetic characteristics of indica Hang2 expressing the sugarcane PEPC gene

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) is known to play a key role in the initial fixation of CO2 in C4 photosynthesis. The PEPC gene from sugarcane (a C4 plant) was introduced into indica rice (Hang2), a process mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Integration patterns and copy numbers of the gene was confirmed by DNA blot analysis. RT-PCR and western blotting results showed that the PEPC gene was expressed at both the mRNA and protein levels in the transgenic lines. Real-time PCR results indicated that expression of the sugarcane PEPC gene occurred mostly in green tissues and changed under high temperature and drought stress. All transgenic lines showed higher PEPC enzyme activities compared to the untransformed controls, with the highest activity (11.1 times higher than the controls) being observed in the transgenic line, T34. The transgenic lines also exhibited higher photosynthetic rates. The highest photosynthetic rate was observed in the transgenic line, T54 (22.3 μmol m−2 s−1; 24.6 % higher than that in non-transgenic plants) under high-temperature conditions. Furthermore, the filled grain and total grain numbers for transgenic lines were higher than those for non-transgenic plants, but the grain filling (%) and 1,000-grain weights of all transgenic lines remained unchanged. We concluded that over-expression of the PEPC gene from sugarcane in indica rice (Hang2) resulted in higher PEPC enzyme activities and higher photosynthesis rates under high-temperature conditions.