Response reaction of wheat plants with different allel states of gpc-b1 gene to zinc deficiency in substrate

Microelements deficiency in the soils, in particular zinc, is a serious problem for many countries of the world, as it leads to yield losses of the most important crops, as well as to a deterioration in the quality of the obtained products. In this work, we studied the effect of zinc deficiency on the response of wheat plants with different allelic states of the GPC-B1 gene, which encodes the NAC transcription factor involved in the regulation of the expression of genes involved in the remobilization of proteins and a number of microelements, including zinc, from leaves to grain. Line 15-7-1 had a functional allele of this gene, and 15-7-2 its non-functional allele. It was shown that the deficiency of this microelement does not have a negative effect on the plants growth processes of both wheat lines: the shoot height and the area of the 4 st leaf in the experimental and control variants did not differ. It was found that at plants of 15-7-1 line, which contains a functional allele of the GPC-B1 gene the parameters characterizing the state of the photosynthetic apparatus – the content of chlorophylls a and b , the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II ( Fv/Fm ), the photosynthesis intensity and stomatal conductance – under optimal conditions of mineral nutrition and with zinc deficiency do not differ. In contrast, at plants with a non-functional allele of the GPC-B1 gene at zinc deficiency, a decrease in the content of photosynthetic pigments (by 23% relative to the control), the photosynthesis rate (by 17%) and stomatal conductance (by 22%) were found, while maintaining of the Fv/Fm value. It has been suggested that the presence of a functional allele of the GPC-B1 gene can contribute to the maintenance of photosynthetic processes in wheat leaves under conditions of zinc deficiency in the substrate.