Rubisco gene expression in C₄ plants

In leaves of most C₄ plants, ribulose 1,5 bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco) accumulates only in bundle sheath (bs) cells that surround the vascular centres, and not in mesophyll (mp) cells. It has been shown previously that in the C₄ dicots amaranth and Flaveria bidentis, post-transcriptional control of mRNA translation and stability mediate the C₄ expression patterns of genes encoding the large and small Rubisco subunits (chloroplast rbcL and nuclear RbcS, respectively). Translational control appears to regulate bs cell-specific Rubisco gene expression during early dicot leaf development, while control of mRNA stability appears to mediate bs-specific accumulation of RbcS and rbcL transcripts in mature leaves. Post-transcriptional control is also involved in the regulation of Rubisco gene expression by light, and in response to photosynthetic activity. Transgenic and transient expression studies in F. bidentis provide direct evidence for post-transcriptional control of bs cell-specific RbcS expression, which is mediated by the 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs) of the mRNA. Comparisons of Rubisco gene expression in these dicots and in the monocot maize indicates possible commonalities in the regulation of RbcS and rbcL genes in these divergent C₄ species. Now that the role of post-transcriptional regulation in C₄ gene expression has been established, it is likely that future studies of mRNA-protein interactions will address long-standing questions about the establishment and maintenance of cell type-specificity in these plants. Some of these regulatory mechanisms may have ancestral origins in C₃ species, through modification of pre-existing factors, or by the acquisition of novel C₄ processes.