Two weeks-old maize (Zea mays cv. XL-72.3) plants were exposed to Al concentrations 0 (Al0), 9 (Al9), 27 (Al27) or 81 (Al81) g m-3 for 20 d in a growth medium with low ionic strength. Thereafter, the Al concentration-dependent interactions on root nitrate uptake, and its subsequent reduction to ammonia in the leaves were investigated. Al concentrations in the roots sharply increased with increasing Al concentrations while root elongation correspondingly decreased. Root fresh and dry masses, acidification capacity, and nitrate and nitrogen contents decreased from Al27 onwards, whereas leaf nitrogen, nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia concentrations decreased starting with Al9. Electrolytic conductance increased by 60 % in root tissues from Al0 to Al81 but it did not increase significantly in the leaves. In Al9, Al27, and Al81 plants a decrease in shoot fresh and dry masses was observed. Al concentrations between 0 and 27 g m-3 increased net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and the quantum yield of photosynthetic electron transport, whereas the intercellular CO2 concentration was minimum in Al27 plants. In the leaves, nitrate reductase (E.C. 1.6.6.1) activity increased until Al27, and nitrite reductase (E.C. 1.6.6.4) activity until Al81. Hence there may be an Al mediated extracellular and intracellular regulation of root net nitrate uptake. Nitrate accumulation in the roots affects the translocation rates and, therefore, the nitrate concentration in the leaves. The in vivo reducing power generated by the photosynthetic electron flow does not limit nitrate to ammonia reduction, and the increase of maximum nitrate and nitrite reductase activities parallels the decreasing nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia concentrations. and F. C. Lidon, J. C. Ramalho, M. G. Barreiro.
Near-isogenic lines of maize varying in their genes for flavonoid biosynthesis were utilized to examine the effects of foliar flavonoids and nutrient deficiency on maximum net photosynthetic rate (PN) and chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence (Fv/Fm) in response to ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation. Plants with deficient (30 to 70 % lower N, K, Mn, Fe, and Zn) and sufficient nutrients were exposed to four irradiation regimes: (1) no UV-B with solar photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), (2) two day shift to ambient artificial UV-B, 8.2-9.5 kJ m-2 d-1 (21-25 mmol m-2 d-1); (3) continuous ambient artificial UV-B; (4) continuous solar UV-B in Hawaii 12-18 kJ m-2 d-1 (32-47 mmol m-2 d-1). The natural ratio of UVB: PAR (0.25-0.40) was maintained in the UV-B treatments. In the adequately fertilized plants, lines b and lc had higher contents of flavonoids and anthocyanins than did lines hi27 and dta. UV-B induced the accumulation of foliar flavonoids in lines hi27 and b, but not in the low flavonoid line dta or in the high flavonoid line lc. In plants grown on deficient relative to adequate nutrients, flavonoid and anthocyanin contents decreased by 30-40 and 40-50 %, respectively, and Chl a and Chl b contents decreased by 30 and 70 %, respectively. The UV-B treatments did not significantly affect PN and Fv/Fm in plants grown on sufficient nutrients, except in the low flavonoid lines dta and hi27 in which PN and Fv/Fm decreased by ∼15 %. PN, Fv/Fm, and stomatal conductance decreased markedly (20-30 %) in all lines exposed to UV-B when grown on low nutrients. The decrease in Fv/Fm was 10 % less in higher flavonoid lines b and lc. The photosynthetic apparatus of maize readily tolerated ambient UV-B in the tropics when plants were adequately fertilized. In contrast, ambient UV-B combined with nutrient deficiency significantly reduced photosynthesis in this C4 plant. Nutrient deficiency increased the susceptibility of maize to UV-B-induced photoinhibition in part by decreasing the contents of photoprotective compounds. and T. S. L. Lau ... [et al.].
Ground concentration of ozone (O3) causes serious threat to plants. In order to protect sensitive plants from O3 pollution, many kinds of antioxidants were assessed in previous studies. In this study, effects of O3 fumigation (a single spike of 120 ± 20 nmol mol-1 for four hours) on an ornamental species (Coleus blumei) was examined in open-top chambers. Before the O3 treatment, plants were sprayed respectively either with a solution of three different antioxidants [Na-ascorbate (NaAsA), kinetin (KIN), and spermidine (Spd)] or with distilled water to compare their protective effects to plants. Our results revealed that O3 fumigation impaired the plasma membrane, decreased chlorophyll (Chl) content, inhibited photosynthesis, induced photoinhibition and photodamage, and caused visible injury. Spraying with KIN, NaAsA or Spd ameliorated the decrease of the Chl content and photosynthetic capability, the impairment of membrane, and visible injury under O3 fumigation. The plants treated with KIN showed the best ability to mitigate the injury caused by O3., L. Zhang, L. L. Jia, J. X. Sui, M. X. Wen, Y. J. Chen., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Salicylic acid (SA) and polyamines (PA) are widely used to overcome various abiotic stresses including salt (NaCl) stress in plants. In the present investigation, co-application efficacies of SA and PA on the salt stress (200 mM NaCl) were evaluated in Lycopersicon esculentum. After transplantation, at 10-d stage, seedlings were exposed to NaCl through soil and then allowed to grow till 30-d stage. At 31-d stage of growth, plants were sprayed with double distilled water (control) or spermidine (1.0 mM) and/or SA (10-5 M). The salt stress significantly reduced the growth, gas-exchange parameters, but increased antioxidant enzymes and proline content in the leaves. Moreover, the loss caused by salt stress was successfully restored by the following treatment of spermidine and SA., Q. Fariduddin, T. A. Khan, M. Yusuf, S. T. Aafaqee, R. R. A. E. Khalil., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The portable chlorophyll (Chl) meter (CL-01, Hansatech) has been successfully used for a rapid and direct estimation of total Chl content in the leaves of some crops. We compared CL-01 meter readings (Chl value) and Chl contents in leaves of Zea mays, Cucumis sativus, Raphanus sativus, and Ceiba speciosa. Chl index was linearly and positively correlated to Chl content in all the species. and D. Cassol ... [et al.].
The photosynthetic gas-exchange has been assessed traditionally either as O2 evolution or CO2 consumption. In this study, we used a liquid-phase O2 electrode combined with CO2 optodes to examine simultaneously photosynthesis in intact leaves of mangrove Rhizophora mucronata. We verified suitable conditions for leaf photosynthetic rates by assessing pH levels and NaHCO3 concentrations and compared these to the gas-exchange method at various PAR levels. The photosynthetic rate in response to pH exhibited a similar pattern both for O2 evolution and CO2 consumption, and higher rates were associated with intermediate pH compared with low and high pH values. The net photosynthetic quotient (PQ) of R. mucronata leaves ranged from 1.04-1.28. The PQ values, which were never lesser than 1, suggested that photorespiration did not occur in R. mucronata leaves under aqueous conditions. The similar maximum photosynthetic rates suggested that all measurements had a high capacity to adjust the photosynthetic apparatus under a light saturation condition. The simultaneous measurements of O2 evolution and CO2 consumption using the Clark oxygen electrode polarographic sensor with the CO2 optode sensor provided a simple, stable, and precise measurement of PQ under aqueous and saturated light conditions., T. Z. Ulqodry, A. Nose, S.-H. Zheng., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The decay of chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence of etiochloroplasts isolated in various stage of greening of cucumber cotyledons was analysed in order to get structural information on a photosynthetic apparatus. Two model decays, multiexponential and stretched exponential, were applied in the analysis. The quality of fit in these two models was different in various stages of chloroplast greening. The two-exponent model did not provide a good fit at early greening stages. To improve the fit it was necessary to introduce an additional third component which became very low at later stages. However, chloroplasts in the early stage of greening could also be described by a stretched exponential with parameters indicating rather planar (two-dimensional) arrangement of donor and acceptor molecules. The chloroplasts treated by DCMU and/or photooxidized by strong irradiance exhibit a similar character of fractal decay as untreated samples but in the multiexponential model the exact values of lifetimes and amplitudes of components vary. This suggests that the structure of investigated system does not dramatically change as a result of these two types of treatment. and A. Kowalczyk, A. Waloszek, D. Frąckowiak.
We studied the dominant environmental factors that affect the
gas-exchange characteristics and water potential (ψ) of broad-ovate leaves of Populus euphratica Oliv. in extreme arid area of Tarim River, China, and their correlation to water status of P. euphratica by analyzing on-field monitored meteorological data, soil moisture and salinity, P. euphratica leaf gas exchange and ψ, and revealed the indicative threshold of environmental factors for P. euphratica leaf water changes and growth. The results indicated that meteorological factors such as air relative humidity (RH), air temperature (T air), etc. are the dominant factors. The threshold value of RH is (48.19 ± 1.06)% for P. euphratica growth, i.e. RH from 10.69% to 48.19% is suitable for P. euphratica growth in extremely arid region of Tarim River. This study provides a theoretical basis for reducing drought damage to P. euphratica and maintaining normal growth of P. euphratica by in-time watering. and A. H. Fu ... [et al.].