In a chlorophyll(Chl)-deficient ch5 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana the thylakoid membrane of which is more loosely arranged than that of the wild type we characterized the xanthophyll cycle (VAZ cycle) components (violaxanthin - V, antheraxanthin - A and zeaxanthin - Z) in comparison with the wild type grown under three low irradiances. As the irradiance increased from 30 to 250 pmol m'^ s'i, the total amount of components of the VAZ cycle decreased in both biotypes, but those of the ch5 mutant decreased more slowly than did those of the wild type. In both biotypes, the relative amoímts of V and A decreased as the irradiance increased, and that of Z increased, but the increase and decrease in the ch5 mutant was slower than in the wild type. The epoxidation index showed that the VAZ cycle operated at a similar efficiency in both biotypes (between 30 and 250 pmol m‘2 s'*), but that the ch5 mutant worked at a capacity 3.5-13.5 % lower than did the wild type, depending on the irradiance. Thus in Chl-deficient mutants, the VAZ cycle operates at a lower capacity than in the wild type, and the mutants are more sensitive to the changes in irradiance.
The response of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) to abiotic stress has been widely investigated. Recent physiological studies focus on the use of osmoprotectants to ameliorate stress damage, but experiments at a field level are scarce. Two tomato cultivars were used for an experiment with saline water (6.57 dS m-1) and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) in a silty clay soil. Rio Grande is a salinity-tolerant cultivar, while Heinz-2274 is the salt-sensitive cultivar. Exogenous application of proline was done by foliar spray at two concentrations (10 and 20 mg L-1) during the flowering stage. Control plants were treated with saline water without proline. Proline at the lower concentration (10 mg L-1) increased dry mass of different plant organs (leaves, stems, and roots) and it improved various chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters compared with controls. Regarding mineral nutrition, K+ and P were higher in different organs, while low accumulation of Na+ occurred. However, Mg2+ was very high in all tissues of Rio Grande at the higher concentration of proline applied. Thus, the foliar spray of proline at 10 mg L-1 increased the tolerance of both cultivars. The growth of aboveground biomass of Heinz-2274 was enhanced by 63.5%, while Rio Grande improved only by 38.9%., B. Kahlaoui, M. Hachicha, S. Rejeb, M. N. Rejeb, B. Hanchi, E. Misle., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Understanding distribution and transport of carbon assimilates and photosynthesis contribution to grain yield in wheat spike is important in assessing the photosynthetic process under stress conditions. In this study, photosynthetic characteristics were evaluated in a pot experiment. Transport of spike photosynthates to grain was demonstrated using 14C isotope tracer technique. Yield and key enzyme activities of C3 and C4 pathways were examined after anthesis in wheat cultivars of different drought resistance. The ear net photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll content of the spike bracts (glume, lemma, and palea), and relative water content slightly decreased under water deficit in drought resistant variety Pubing 143 (Pub) during the grain filling stage, whereas all parameters decreased significantly in drought sensitive variety Zhengyin 1 (Zhe). Grain 14C-photosynthate distribution rate fell by 3.8% in Pub and increased by 3.9% in Zhe. After harvest, the water-use efficiency of Zhe dropped by 18.7% under water deficit. Rubisco activity in ear organs declined significantly under water deficit, whereas activity of C4 pathway enzymes was significantly enhanced, especially that of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and NADP-malate dehydrogenase. Water deficit exerted lesser influence on spike photosynthesis in Pub. Ear organs exhibited delayed senescence. Accumulation of photosynthetic carbon assimilates in ear bracts occurred mainly during the early grain filling and photosynthates were transported in the middle of grain filling. C4 pathway enzymes seem to play an important function in ear photosynthesis. We speculate that the high enzyme activity of the C4 pathway and the increased capacity of photosynthetic carbon assimilate transport were the reasons for the drought tolerance characteristics of ears., S. Jia, J. Lv, S. Jiang, T. Liang, C. Liu, Z. Jing., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Leaf adaptatíons of Quercus ilex L., Phillyrea latifolia L. and Pistacia lentiscus L. to various environmental conditions námely from the viewpoint of the differences of leaf area, dry mass, chlorophyll (Chl) content, sclerophylly index, succulence index and net photosynthetic rate are shown. Irradiance was the most important factor to miluence leaf temperature, stomatal conductance (g^) and transpiration rate (E). Under canopy layer low red-far red ratio reduced Pn- Shade leaves were enriched by Chl b. Chl content and sclerophylly index were good leaf characteristics to express adaptability of plants to microclimate.
Leaf conductance (g), net photosynthetic carbon fixation rate (Pyi), leaf protein concentration and ribulose-l,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBPCO) activity were examined in baldcypress {Taxodium distichum L.) seedlings subjected to rhizosphere hypoxia. Seedlings grown in nutrient solution were treated with either air or N2. Changes in g. Pyj, leaf protein concentrations and RuBPCO activity in response to the treatments were measured at 12, 24, and 48 h. In a second experiment, similar measurements were conducted on plants grown in soil medium under either flooded or drained conditions over a period of 28 d. Under rhizosphere hypoxia, both g and Pyj were reduced significantly at 24 and 48 h as compared to control plants while there were no significant differences in leaf protein concentrations between treatments. RuBPCO activity, however, was reduced significantly (27 % reduction) at 48 h. In flooding experiment, g and decreased on days 3, 5, and 10 significantly. RuBPCO activity was significantly lower in flooded plants as compared to control (aerated) plants on day 3 and 5 following initiation of flooding. bi this experiment, g and began to improve after day 10, to as much as 97 and 87 % of control by day 28, respectively. RuBPCO activity which had decreased significantly by day 3, remained significantly lower on day 5 and slightly (but not significantly) lower than in control plants during the remainder of the experiment. Present data support the hypothesis that in baldcypress seedlings, reduced RuBPCO activity is among the early signals of flood-stress contributing to the loss of leaf Pyj. In addition, plant acclimated to the stress conditions during the long-term experiment indicating that some flood-tolerant tree species such as baldcypress may occupy wet sites due to such capabilities.
Clonal growth is of great importance for survival, growth, expansion, and resource utilization of some species. Knowing how clonal plants respond morphologically and physiologically to different light environments can be useful to explain their occurrence and abundance patterns under specific environmental conditions. Responses of clonal growth, leaf gas exchange, fluorescence emission, and photosynthetic pigment concentrations to different light environments (100, 60, 30, and 15%) were studied in Amomum villosum, grown in the traditional way for economic purpose in Xishuangbanna, southwest China. The results showed that A. villosum attained vigorous clonal growth under 30% and 60% light, with a higher plant height, number of ramets, stolon length, thicker stems and stolons. Shade-grown A. villosum possessed a larger leaf area than that of the sun-grown plants in order to capture more light. For A. villosum, the higher
light-saturated net photosynthetic rate, light-saturation point, larger fresh and dry biomass can explained the better clonal growth for A. villosum under 30% and 60% light. Amomum villosum attained the highest values of minimal chlorophyll fluorescence under 100% light and the lowest values of maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII under 15% light. Our findings indicated that the full irradiance was too strong and 15% light was too weak for A. villosum plants. It was also verified by higher concentrations of photosynthetic pigments in the shaded plants compared to those grown under full sun light. Our results suggested that A. villosum seemed to be adapted to moderate light environment (60-30%) which was indicated by vigorous clonal growth and higher photosynthesis. This information is very useful to select clonal species for rainforest or understory projects. The cultivation of A. villosum in rainforest should not be done under too strong (100%) or too weak light environment (less than 15%)., Y. H. Guo, C. Yuan, L. Tang, J. M. Peng, K. L. Zhang, G. Li, X. J. Ma., and Seznam literatury
Ramie (Boehmeria nivea L.) is an important crop that serves as fine fiber material, high protein feedstuff, and valuable herbal medicine in China. However, increasing salinity in soil limits the productivity. We investigated in a greenhouse experiment responses to salinity in two ramie cultivars, Chuanzhu-12 (salt-tolerant cultivar, ST) and Xiangzhu-2 (salt-sensitive cultivar, SS), to elucidate the salt tolerance mechanism of this species. Salinity stress substantially reduced both chlorophyll and carotenoid contents. In addition, net photosynthesis, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2 concentration, and the ratio of intercellular CO2 to ambient CO2 were affected, less in ST. Nevertheless, salinity stress markedly improved water use efficiency and intrinsic water use efficiency in both species. Moreover, relative water contents, soluble proteins, and catalase activity were substantially impaired, while proline accumulation and superoxide dismutase activity were enhanced substantially, more in ST. Furthermore, noteworthy increase in peroxidase activity and decrease in malondialdehyde content was recorded in ST, whereas, in SS, these attributes changed conversely. Overall, the cultivar ST exhibited salt tolerance due to its higher photosynthetic capacity, chlorophyll content, antioxidative enzyme activity, and nonenzymatic antioxidants, as well as reduced lipid peroxidation and maintenance of the tissue water content. This revealed the salt tolerance mechanism of ramie plants for adaptation to salt affected soil., C.-J. Huang, G. Wei, Y.-C. Jie , J.-J. Xu, S.-Y. Zhao, L.-C. Wang, S. A. Anjum., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
In order to test the effects of irrigation depth on winter wheat photosynthesis, four treatments were applied in a field experiment using PVC growth tubes (identical amounts of water were applied on the land surface, and at 60, 75, and 90% of the depth for the winter wheat root distribution, denoted as D0, D60, D75, and D90, respectively). Compared to the surface irrigation treatment D0, the leaf area index, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and intercellular CO2 concentration increased with irrigation depths. The values of these indicators obtained by the underground irrigation treatment D75 were higher than those of D60 and D90, and thus D75 was found to be the optimum irrigation depth. Furthermore, a positive but not significant correlation (r = 0.62) between carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C) and grain yield was found. This study improves our understanding of the mechanism of underground water distribution control with depth, and the efficiency of
water-saving irrigation for winter wheat., L. J. Zheng, J. J. Ma, X. H. Sun, X. H. Guo, J. Jiang, R. Ren, X. L. Zhang., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The effect of heat stress (35 to 50 °C) on photosynthesis was investigated in heat tolerant (N 22) and heat sensitive (IR 8) cultivars of rice {Oryza sativa L.). The net photosynthetic rate showed greater thermal stability in N 22 than in IR 8. The relative dechne of the rate of whole chain electron transport and photosystem 2 (PS2) activity was more pronounced in IR 8 than N 22. In both cultivars photosystem (PSI) activity was stimulated by thermal treatment. Chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence transient arising ffom PS2 showed inhibition in both cultivars at 45 and 50 °C. Maximum fluorescence decreased more in IR 8 than in N 22 by high temperature treatment.
o reveal the dynamics of short-term photosynthetic acclimation to increased irradiance, the light response of photochemical (qp), non-photochemical (q^) and Fo (qo) quenchings of chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence and Chl and carotenoids compositíon in Norway spruce needles were monitored within three days after transfer of saplings ffom low diffuse irradiance (maximum photosynthetic photon fluence density PPFD 50 pmol m'^ s'i) to direct sun radiation (maximum PPFD 2000 pmol m‘2 s'*). Irradiance responses of fluorescence quenching coefficients revealed the occurrence of substantíal changes in partítioning of excitation energy between photochemical reactions and radiatíonless dissipation within two days. The saturating irradiance for qj,j and the capacity of non-radiatíve dissipation processes was shifted from about 450 pmol m'^ s** to 1620 pmol m-2 s'L Whereas immediately after exposure to ťull sunlight was completely reduced at 1620 pmol m'^ s'*, two days later 40 % of was stíll present in oxidized form at this irradiance. A fast pigment photobleaching at noon prevented the over-reduction of and thus it was one of the possible short-term acclimation processes. No severe photoinhibition of photosystem 2 (PS 2) photochemistry occurred within the period of investigation as can be judged from the high F^/F^ value.