Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying single-cell C4 photosynthesis in Chenopodiaceae species

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All photosynthetic organisms perform a common biological process referred to as photosynthesis to convert atmospheric CO2 into organic products essential for all other forms of life. In terrestrial plants, three common modes of photosynthesis, C3, C4 and Crassulacean acid metabolism, have been identified with C4 plants being the most efficient under CO2 limiting conditions. It has long been accepted that the operation of C4 photosynthesis requires cooperation of two photosynthetic cell types called Kranz anatomy, which differ in ultrastructure and biochemistry. This paradigm was recently broken with the discovery that three members of the family Chenopodiaceae conduct C4 photosynthesis within individual cells. These species achieve novel solutions for the operation of the C4 photosynthetic mechanism within a single cell through spatial partitioning of organelles and photosynthetic enzymes into two subcellular domains. Therefore, these unique species provide ideal model systems with which to probe regulation of complex structural and functional polarity in a single plant cell.