Cadmium is one of the most dangerous environmental pollutants, affecting, among other things, plant mineral composition. It easily interacts with iron, one of the most important elements for plant growth and metabolism. This interaction, including modifying effects of lowered or excessive Fe supply on Cd-exposed plants and its consequences for the photosynthetic apparatus is reviewed. The influence of modified Fe and Cd supply on the uptake of both metals, their distribution, plant growth, and photosynthesis is also explained. Moderate Fe excess has a beneficial influence on Cd-treated plants, resulting in more intensive growth, photosynthetic pigments accumulation, and more efficient light phase of photosynthesis. Nutrient-medium Fe deficiency increases plant susceptibility to Cd. The main open questions of Cd/Fe interaction are: (1) the strong Fe-dependency of Cd mobility within the plant, and (2) photosynthetic dark phase adaptation to Cd stress. and A. Siedlecka, Z. Krupa.
In this article, the effects of drought stress (DS) on gas exchange, chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence and Calvin cycle enzymes in Phaseolus vulgaris are evaluated. Three-week-old plants were exposed to DS by receiving only so much water every evening to ensure 30% field capacity water content overnight. After three days under these conditions, we observed that DS induced a decline of the CO2 assimilation. Gas-exchange data showed that the closure of stomata during DS did not lead to a concomitant decline in calculated intercellular CO2 concentration. Moreover, DS plants showed a reduction of the photochemical Chl fluorescence quenching, photosystem II quantum yield and electron transport rate and a higher pH gradient and more heat dissipation as compared to controls. The activity of Calvin cycle enzymes, Rubisco, sFBPase, and Ru5PK, decreased strongly in DS plants as compared to controls. Data analysis suggest that the decrease of CO2 assimilation under drought conditions is not related to a diminished capacity of the use of NADPH and ATP but probably to the decline of enzyme activity involved in RuBP regeneration (Ru5PK). and M. C. Dias, W. Brüggemann.