N-glycosylation regulates photosynthetic efficiency of Arabidopsis thaliana

N-glycosylation is one of the most important protein modifications in eukaryotes. It has been well established that N-glycosylation plays multiple roles in regulating stress tolerance of plants. However, the effects and mechanism of N-glycosylation on photosynthesis have not been well understood. In the present study, an obvious decrease in photosynthetic capacity and dry mass were detected in alg3-3 and cgl1-1, two typical mutants in N-glycosylation process. The maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII decreased significantly in cgl1-1. The values of effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry, rate of photosynthetic electron transport through PSII, and photochemical quenching coefficient, which reflected the photochemical efficiency of plants, decreased as well, while the values of quantum yield of nonregulated energy dissipation of PSII showed obvious enhancement, the similar tendency was also observed in alg3-3. Furthermore, we found that N-glycosylation was also required to maintain the stability of a chloroplast-located protein CAH1, which was closely related to photosynthesis. These results suggest that N-glycosylation plays crucial roles in maintaining photosynthetic efficiency.