The seeds of soybean cv. Aldana and spring wheat cv. Torka were soaked for 24 h in solution of zearalenone [ZEN, 2,4-dihydroxy-6-(10-hydroxy-6-oxo-trans-1-undecenyl)-benzonic acid lactone, 4 mg dm-3] and then they were sown in the pot experiment in an open vegetation hall. The after-effects of ZEN on growth of plants, net photosynthetic (PN) and transpiration (E) rates, stomatal conductance (gs), photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) and on final seeds yield, were determined. A significant increase of seeds yield was revealed in plants of both cultivars i.e. by 22% and 19% of seed (grain) number and by 28 and 24% of seed (grain) mass, in soybean and in wheat, respectively. The photosynthetic rate (PN) was stimulated during the juvenile and final phase by about 13.6% (average) in soybean plants. During other developmental stages, assimilation of CO2 was retarded. The response of CO2 assimilation in wheat plants was less pronounced as compared to that in soybean, but an increase of PN by over 24% near the final stage of development was observed. The quantum yield of PSII electron transport (ΦPSII) in soybean plants was changed after the treatment of seeds by ZEN similarly as for the rate of CO2, whereas in wheat it continued to gradually increase i.e. during the whole growth period. Changes of ΦPSII both in soybean and in wheat plants, as the response to ZEN treatment, were accompanied with an increase in the efficiency of changes occurring within the antenna (Fv'/Fm') as well as within centres of photochemical reactions (qp). The conclusion is that ZEN can affect plant growth and development in many ways, as well as in the status and functioning of the photosynthetical apparatus. Some of the effects can be very longlasting, as e.g. stimulation of production of seed yield in response to treatment of seeds with this substance. and J. Kościelniak ... [et al.].
The potential importance of CO2 derived from host tree respiration at night as a substrate for night time CO2 uptake during CAM was investigated in the subtropical and tropical epiphytic vine Hoya carnosa in a subtropical rainforest in north-eastern Taiwan. Individuals were examined within the canopies of host trees in open, exposed situations, as well as in dense forests. Although night time CO2 concentrations were higher near the epiphytic vines at night, relative to those measured during the day, presumably the result of CO2 added to the canopy air by the host tree, no evidence for substantial use of this CO2 was found. In particular, stable carbon isotope ratios of H. carnosa were not substantially lower than those of many other CAM plants, as would be expected if host-respired CO2 were an important source of CO2 for these CAM epiphytes. Furthermore, laboratory measurements of diel CO2 exchange revealed a substantial contribution of daytime CO2 uptake in these vines, which should also result in lower carbon isotope values than those characteristic of a CAM plant lacking daytime CO2 uptake. Overall, we found that host-respired CO2 does not contribute substantially to the carbon budget of this epiphytic CAM plant. This finding does not support the hypothesis that CAM may have evolved in tropical epiphytes in response to diel changes in the CO2 concentrations within the host tree canopy. and C.-C. Hsu ... [et al.].
Seedling performance may determine plant distribution, especially in water-limited environments. Plants of Caragana korshinskii commonly grow in arid and semiarid areas in northwestern China, and endure water shortage in various ways, but little is known about their performance when water shortage occurs at early growth stages. The water relations, photosynthetic activity, chlorophyll (Chl) content and proline accumulation were determined in 1-year-old seedlings growing in a 1:1 mixture of Loess soil and Perlite and subjected to (1) a water deficit for 20 days and (2) kept adequately watered throughout. The water deficit induced low (-6.1 MPa) predawn leaf water potentials (LWP), but did not induce any leaf abscission. Stomatal conductance (gs), leaf transpiration rate (E), and net photosynthetic rate (PN) decreased immediately following the imposition of the water deficit, while the maximal photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) (Fv/Fm) and the effective quantum yield of PSII (ΦPSII) decreased 15 days later. An early and rapid decrease in gs, reduced E, increased Chl (a+b) loss, increased the apparent rate of photochemical transport of electrons through PSII (ETR)/PN, as well as a gradual increase in non-photochemical quenching of fluorescence (NPQ) and proline may have contributed to preventing ΦPSII from photodamage. C. korshinskii seedlings used a stress-tolerance strategy, with leaf maintenance providing a clear selective advantage, considering the occasional rainfall events during the growing season. and X. W. Fang ... [et al.].
In the area of Jumla region in Western Nepal, measurements of saturated leaf net photosynthetic rate (Psat), nitrogen content, leaf fluorescence, carbon isotopic composition, and water status were performed on woody coniferous (Pinus wallichiana, Picea smithiana, Abies spectabilis, Juniperus wallichiana, Taxus baccata), evergreen (Quercus semecarpifolia, Rhododendron campanulatum), and deciduous broadleaved species (Betula utilis, Populus ciliata, Sorbus cuspidata) spreading from 2 400 m up to the treeline at 4 200 m a.s.l. With the exception of J. wallichiana, Psat values were lower in coniferous than broadleaved species. Q. semecarpifolia, that in this area grows above the coniferous belt between 3 000 and 4 000 m, showed the highest Psat at saturating irradiance and the highest leaf N content. This N content was higher and Psat lower than those of evergreen oak species of tempe forests at middle and low altitudes. For all species, Psat and N content were linearly correlated, but instantaneous nitrogen use efficiency was lower than values measured in lowland and temperate plant communities. The values of carbon isotopic composition, estimated by δ13C, showed the same range reported for temperate tree species. The ranking of δ13C values for the different tree types was conifers < evergreen broadleaved<deciduous, suggesting tighter stomatal closure and higher water use efficiency for the evergreen types, confirming trends found elsewhere. No relevant differences of δ13C were found along the altitudinal gradient. Quantum yield of photochemistry at saturating irradiance, measured by leaf fluorescence (δF/Fm'), was highest in J. wallichiana and lowest in T. baccata. Overall, photochemical efficiency was more strongly related to species than to altitude. Interestingly, changes of .δF/Fm' along the altitudinal gradient correlated well with the reported altitudinal distribution of the species. and M. de Lillis, G. Matteucci, R. Valentini.
We examined the carbon budget of young winter wheat plants and their associated microorganisms as affected by a doubling of the atmospheric CO2 concentration (700 µmol mol-1). Plants were grown hydroponically in pre-sterilised sand at a controlled irradiance and temperature regime. Net photosynthesis (PN) and respiration (RD) rates of roots and shoots were measured continuously, plant growth and carbon distribution in the plant-root medium-associated microorganism system were determined destructively in interval-based analyses. PN in elevated CO2 grown plants (EC) was 123% of that in the control (AC) plants when averaged over the whole life span (39-d-old plants, 34 d in EC), but the percentage varied with the developmental stage being 115, 88, and 167% in the pretillering, tillering, and posttillering phase, respectively. There was a transient depression of PN, higher amplitude of day/night fluctuations of the chloroplast starch content, and depression of carbon content in rhizosphere of EC plants during the period of tillering. After 34 d in EC, carbon content in shoots, roots, and in rhizodepositions was enhanced by the factors 1.05, 1.28, and 1.96, respectively. Carbon partitioning between above and belowground biomass was not affected by EC, however, proportionally more C in the belowground partitioning was allocated into the root biomass. Carbon flow from roots to rhizodepositions and rhizosphere microflora was proportional to PN; its fraction in daily assimilated carbon decreased from young (17%) to order (3-4%) plants. and H. Šantrůčková ... [et al.].
In bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) seedlings well supplied with water, rates of transpiration (E) and CO2 assimilation (PN) of the primary leaves were measured under blue (BR) or red (RR) irradiance of 150 µmol(photon) m-2 s-1. The leaf conductance to H2O vapour transfer (gH2O), as well as the intercellular concentrations of H2O vapour (ei) and of CO2 (Ci) were calculated. Under BR, gH2O was significantly greater, but PN was lower, and E similar as compared with corresponding values found under RR. The increase of stomata aperture under BR was evident although Ci was higher and ei was lower than under RR. Results agree with the suggestion that BR directly activates guard cell metabolism and in well watered plants determines mainly the stomata aperture. and S. Maleszewski, E. Niemyjska, B. Kozłowska-Szerenos.
The metabolic pathway of primary carbon fixation was studied in a peculiar pennate marine diatom, Haslea ostrearia (Bory) Simonsen, which synthesizes and accumulates a blue pigment known as "marennine". Cells were cultured in a semi-continuous mode under saturating [350 µmol(photon) m-2 s-1] or non-saturating [25 µmol(photon) m-2 s-1] irradiance producing "blue" (BC) and "green" (GC) cells, characterized by high and low marennine accumulation, respectively. Growth, pigment contents (chlorophyll a and marennine), 14C accumulation in the metabolites, and the carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity of the cells were determined during the exponential growth phase. Growth rate and marennine content were closely linked to irradiance during growth: higher irradiance increased both growth rate and marennine content. On the other hand, the Chl a concentration was lower under saturating irradiance. The distribution between the Calvin-Benson (C3) and β-carboxylation (C4) pathways was very different depending on the irradiance during growth. Metabolites of the C3 cycle contained about 70 % of the total fixed radioactivity after 60 s of incorporation into cells cultured under the non-saturating irradiance (GC), but only 47 % under saturating irradiance (BC). At the same time, carbon fixation by β-carboxylation was 24 % in GC versus about 41 % in BC, becoming equal to that in the C3 fixation pathway in the latter. Internal CA activity remained constant, but the periplasmic CA activity was higher under low than high irradiance. and M. Rech, A. Morant-Manceau, G. Tremblin.
During batch culture of Haslea ostrearia the highest carbon (14C) fixation rate was found in vivo in cells that did not accumulate the blue pigment marennine (green form). This fixation rate decreased concomitantly with the accumulation of marennine. In vitro, no phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) activity was detected, but nearly equivalent activities of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPC) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) were found in the green form. However, the activity of RuBPC was lower than that of PEPCK during marennine accumulation. In vitro carboxylase activities were strongly inhibited by the addition of a marennine extract. A full description of this inhibition could not be confirmed within the cells because marennine accumulates in small cytoplasmic vesicles. and G. Tremblin, J.-M. Robert.
The neotropical genus Clusia comprises arborescent species exhibiting Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) as was first reported for a Mexican species, Clusia lundellii. Here, the occurrence of CAM photosynthesis was studied in 20 species of Clusia, 18 from Mexico, and 2 from Guatemala, using leaf carbon isotopic composition. In most species, samples from individuals collected in different locations were analyzed. CAM was present in at least 11 species, eight of which contained specimens with δ13C values less negative than -20.0 ‰, indicating strong CAM (C. chanekiana, C. flava, C. lundellii, C. mexicana, C. quadrangula, C. rosea, C. suborbicularis, and C. tetra-trianthera). δ13C was highly variable in some species, but CAM expression was not correlated to life form (epiphytic, hemiepiphytic, terrestrial) or habitat. CAM specimens were not collected at altitudes above 1 700 m a.s.l. and J. G. Vargas-Soto, J. L. Andrade, K. Winter.
Isotope screening is a simple test for determining the photosynthetic pathway used by plants. The scope of this work was to classify the photosynthetic type of some herbs and medicinal plants through studies of the carbon isotope composition (δ13C). Also, we propose the use of carbon isotope composition as a tool to control the quality of herbs and medicinal plants. For studies of δ13C, δ13C‰ = [R (sample)/R (standard) - 1] × 10-3, dry leaves powdered in cryogenic mill were analyzed in a mass spectrometer coupled with an elemental analyzer for determining the ratio R = 13CO2/12CO2. In investigation of δ13C of 55 species, 23 botanical families, and 44 species possessed a C3 photosynthetic type. Six species found among the botanical families Euphorbiaceae and Poaceae were C4 plants, and 5 species found among the botanical families Agavaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Liliaceae possessed CAM-type photosynthesis. Carbon isotope composition of plants can be used as quality control of herbs and medicinal plants, allowing the identification of frauds or contaminations. Also, the information about the photosynthetic type found for these plants can help in introducing and cultivating exotic and wild herbs and medicinal plants. and J. A. Marchese ... [et al.].