Molecular insights into photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism in Jatropha curcas grown under elevated CO₂ using...

Jatropha curcas L. (Family - Euphorbiaceae) is a perennial tree of special interest due to its potential as a biofuel plant with high carbon sequestration. In this study, physiological investigations coupled with transcriptomics in relation to photosynthesis were evaluated in Jatropha grown under ambient (395 ppm) and elevated (550 ppm) CO₂ atmosphere. Morphophysiological analysis revealed that Jatropha sustained enhanced photosynthesis during its growth under elevated CO₂ for one year which might be linked to improved CO₂ assimilation physiology and enhanced sink activity. We sequenced and analyzed the leaf transcriptome of Jatropha after one year of growth in both conditions using Illumina HiSeq platform. After optimized assembly, a total of 69,581 unigenes were generated. The differential gene expression (DGE) analysis revealed 3013 transcripts differentially regulated in elevated CO₂ conditions. The photosynthesis regulatory genes were analysed for temporal expression patterns at four different growth phases which highlighted probable events contributing to enhanced growth and photosynthetic capacity including increased reducing power, starch synthesis and sucrose mobilization under elevated CO₂. Overall, our data on physiological and transcriptomic analyses suggest an optimal resource allocation to the available and developing sink organs thereby sustaining improved photosynthetic rates during long-term growth of Jatropha under CO₂ enriched environment.