Factors affecting expression of enhanced catalase activity in a tobacco mutant with o(2)-resistant photosynthesis

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) mutants with 40 to 50% more catalase activity than wild type show O(2)-resistant photosynthesis under conditions of high photorespiration. More than 90% of the population of mutant plants of an M(7) and M(8) generation had enhanced catalase activity, and nearly 40% had activities >3 standard deviations above the mean of wild type. Superoxide dismutase activity was the same in mutant and wild-type leaves. The greater photosynthetic rate of mutant leaves previously observed in the laboratory was confirmed with field-grown plants that showed significantly higher rates (8%) than wild type during 8 days of measurements during a 19-day period of active growth. The tip region of expanding mutant leaves had higher catalase activity than the base of the lamina, and photosynthesis was O(2) resistant in 42% O(2) in the tip compared with the base, thus further supporting the hypothesis that there is a biochemical linkage between these traits. Plants grown in high light (270 micromole photons per square meter per second) had greater catalase activity and an activity ratio of mutant to wild type of 1.45 compared with 1.22 for those grown in low light (130 micromole photons per square meter per second). After acclimation for 3 weeks, plants transferred from low to high light showed increasing activities, and after 5 days the activity ratio of mutant to wild type was the same as in plants acclimated in higher light. The role of enhanced catalase activity in reducing photorespiratory CO(2) is discussed.