Loss of chloroplast-localized NAD kinase causes ROS stress in Arabidopsis thaliana

Chloroplast-localized NAD kinase (NADK2) is responsible for the production of NADP(+), which is an electron acceptor in the linear electron flow of photosynthesis. The Arabidopsis T-DNA-inserted mutant of NADK2 (nadk2) showed delayed growth and pale-green leaves under continuous light conditions. Under short-day conditions (8 h light / 16 h dark), the nadk2 mutant showed more severe growth inhibition.The genomic fragment containing the promoter and coding region of NADK2 complemented the phenotypes of nadk2 obtained under continuous light and short-day conditions. The nadk2 mutant produced higher amounts of H2O2 and O-2(-), which were reduced in the complementary line. Under short-day conditions, the nadk2 mutant accumulated more H2O2 than under continuous light conditions. The accumulation of ascorbate and up-regulation of the PDF1.2 and PR1 genes indicated that the nadk2 mutant is under ROS stress and responding to keep its living activities.