In a glasshouse, Bemisia tabaci infestation largely reduced response of photosynthesis to irradiance and CO2 concentration of Mikania micrantha compared with the non-infested control (C) ones. The maximum irradiance-saturated photosynthetic rate
(Pmax) and saturation irradiance (SI) of the infested M. micrantha were only 21.3 % and 6.5 % of the C-plants, respectively. B. tabaci infestation led to the reduction of contents of chlorophyll and carotenoids in M. micrantha, which was accompanied with the decrease of actual photosystem 2 (PS2) efficiency (ΦPS2), efficiency of excitation energy capture by open PS2 reaction centres (Fv'/Fm'), electron transport rate (ETR), and photochemical quenching (qP). Moreover, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities significantly decreased while proline and glutathione contents significantly increased in infested M. micrantha. Hence B. tabaci infestation not only induced direct damage of photosynthetic apparatus but also altered the antioxidant enzymes activities in M. micrantha, which might as consequences accelerate senescence of this weed. and L. L. Zhang, D. Z. Wen.
Plant growth, chlorophyll (Chl) content, photosynthetic gas exchange, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPCO) enzyme activity, and Chl fluorescence in radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus) plants were examined after turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) infection. Plant fresh mass, dry mass, Chl content, net photosynthetic rate (PN), transpiration rate (E), stomatal conductance (gs), and RuBPCO activity were significantly lower in infected plants after 5 weeks of virus infection as compared to healthy plants. The 5-week virus infection did not induce significant differences in intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci, photochemical efficiency of photosystem 2, PS2 (Fv/Fm), excitation capture efficiency of open PS2 reaction centres (Fv'/Fm'), effective quantum efficiency of photosystem 2 (ΔF/Fm'), and photochemical quenching (qP), but non-photochemical quenching (qN) and alternative electron sink (AES) were significantly enhanced. Thus the decreased plant biomass of TuMV-infected plants might be associated with the decreased photosynthetic activity mainly due to reduced RuBPCO activity. and Y.-P. Guo ... [et al.].