Water stress usually impairs photosynthesis and plant growth. Acacia tortilis subsp. raddiana is well adapted to dry environments. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of a progressive decrease in soil water content on photosynthetic-related parameters at the young seedling stage. Drought-induced plant responses occurred according to two types of kinetics. Water potential, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rates were rapidly affected by a decrease in soil water content, while chlorophyll fluorescence-related parameters and chlorophyll concentrations decreased only when soil water content was lower than 40%. The maximal efficiency of PSII photochemistry in the dark-adapted state remained unaffected by the treatment, whatever the stress duration. A. raddiana accumulated high concentrations of soluble sugars in relation to a stress-induced early stimulation of sucrose-phosphate synthase activity, while stimulation of invertase and sucrose synthase led to fructose accumulation only at the end of the stress period. We suggested that sugar accumulation may be involved in osmotic adjustment and protection of stressed tissues. A. raddiana was thus able to protect its photosynthetic machinery under drought conditions and may be considered as a promising species for revegetation of dry areas., S. Kebbas, S. Lutts, F. Aid., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The present study was conducted to determine the effect of exogenous application of brassinolide (BR) on Leymus chinensis grown under shade, i.e., control (100% natural light), mild shade (70% natural light), and moderate shade (50% natural light). Shade substantially enhanced the plant growth, synthesis of photosynthetic pigments, photosynthetic efficiency, and chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence attributes of L. chinensis as compared with control. The order of increase was mild shade > moderate shade > natural light except Chl content, where the order of increase was moderate shade > mild shade > natural light. Likewise, application of BR resulted in further exacerbation of plant height, plant fresh and dry mass, but less in case of Chl and carotenoids contents, gas-exchange characteristics, and Chl fluorescence attributes. The results conclude that shade significantly enhanced plant growth through alterations in physiological attributes of L. chinensis, while, application of BR may not further improve the plant growth under shade., A. J. Yang, S. A. Anjum, L. Wang, J. X. Song, X. F. Zong, J. Lv, A. Zohaib, I. Ali, R. Yan, Y. Zhang, Y. F. Dong, S. G. Wang., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of Glomus mosseae on chlorophyll (Chl) content, Chl fluorescence parameters and chloroplast ultrastructure of beach plum seedlings under 2% NaCl stress. The results showed that compared to control, both Chl a and Chl b contents of NaCl + G. mosseae treatment were significantly lower during the salt stress, while Chl a/b ratio increased significantly. The increase of minimal fluorescence of darkadapted state (F0), and the decrease of maximal fluorescence of dark-adapted state (Fm) and variable fluorescence (Fv) values were inhibited. The maximum quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fm), the maximum energy transformation potential of PSII photochemistry (Fv/F0) and the effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (ΦPSII) increased significantly, especially the latter two variables. The values of the photochemical quenching coefficient (qP) and the nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) were similar between G. mosseae inoculation and noninoculation. It could be concluded that G. mosseae inoculation could protect the photosystem II (PSII) of beach plum, enhance the efficiency of primary light energy conversion and improve the primitive response of photosynthesis under salinity stress. Meanwhile, G. mosseae inoculation was beneficial to maintain the integrity of thylakoid membrane and to protect the structure and function of chloroplast, which suggested that G. mosseae can alleviate the damage of NaCl stress to chloroplast., X. M. Zai ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Cyanobacterial NDH-1 interacts with PSI to form NDH-1-PSI supercomplex. CpcG2, a linker protein for the PSI-specific peripheral antenna CpcG2-phycobilisome, is essential for stabilization of the supercomplex. Green light (GL) increased the expression of CpcG2 but had little effect, if any, on the expression of NDH-1 and PSI, when compared to the abundance of these components under red light (RL). The increased expression of CpcG2 intensified the band of NDH-1-PSI supercomplex after blue-native gel electrophoresis of the thylakoid membrane, possibly by stabilizing the supercomplex. The activity of NDH-1-dependent cyclic electron transport around PSI increased when cells grown under RL were transferred to a low intensity GL but was suppressed when cells were grown under high intensities of GL. The functionality of PSI showed the same trend. We thus conclude that GL increases the expression of CpcG2, thereby increasing the abundance of the NDH-1-PSI supercomplex and its activity at low GL but not at higher GL., F. Gao, T. Ogawa, W. Ma., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
a1_Artemisia annua L. produces a compound called artemisinin that is a potent anti-malarial compound. However concentration of artemisinin within the plant is typically low (less than 0.8% of dry mass) and currently supply of the drug by the plant does not meet world demand. This investigation was carried out to determine whether high intensity light treatment would increase production of artemisinin in leaves of A. annua. Photoinhibition (14%) was induced in leaves of A. annua when they were subjected to 6 h of high-intensity light [2,000 μmol(photon) m-2 s-1]. Maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII showed a recovery of up to 95% within 24 h of light induced inhibition. During the light treatment, photochemical efficiency of PSII in leaves of the high-intensity light-treated plants was 38% lower than for those from leaves of plants subjected to a low-intensity-light treatment of 100 μmol(photon) m-2 s-1. Nonphotochemical quenching of excess excitation energy was 2.7 times higher for leaves treated with high-intensity light than for those irradiated with low-intensity light. Elevation in oxidative stress in irradiated leaves increased presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) including singlet oxygen, superoxide anions, and hydrogen peroxide. Importantly, the concentration of artemisinin in leaves was two-fold higher for leaves treated with high-intensity light, as compared to those treated with low-intensity light. These results indicate that A. annua responds to high irradiance through nonphotochemical dissipation of light energy yet is subject to photoinhibitory loss of photosynthetic capacity. It can be concluded that A. annua is capable of rapid recovery from photoinhibition caused by high light intensity., a2_High light intensity also induced oxidative stress characterized by increased concentration of ROS which enhanced the content of artemisinin. Such a light treatment may be useful for the purpose of increasing artemisinin content in A. annua prior to harvest., M. E. Poulson, T. Thai., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the simultaneous action of light stress and salinity. Pulse amplitude modulated chlorophyll fluorescence, P700 redox state, and pigment analysis were used to assess the impact of high light intensity on Paulownia tomentosa × fortunei and Paulownia elongata × elongata grown on soils with different salinity. It was found that light stress reduced the amount of pigments and the efficiency of photochemical energy conversion, inhibited the maximum and the effective quantum yields of PSII photochemistry, decreased photochemical quenching and photosynthetic rate. Data also showed influence on the primary quinone acceptor (QA) reoxidation, which led to the restriction of the electron flow from QA to plastoquinone and stimulation of the cyclic electron flow. The possible reasons for the increased effects of the light stress under conditions of high salt concentration in soil for Paulownia tomentosa × fortunei are discussed., M. Stefanov, E. Yotsova, Y. Markovska, E. L. Apostolova., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The effect of high temperature (HT) and dehydration on the activity of photosynthetic apparatus and its ability to restore membrane properties, oxygen evolution, and energy distribution upon rehydration were investigated in a resurrection plant, Haberlea rhodopensis. Plants growing under low irradiance in their natural habitat were desiccated to air-dry state at a similar light intensity [about 30 μol(photon) m-2 s-1] under optimal day/night (23/20°C) or high (38/30°C) temperature. Our results showed that HT alone reduced the photosynthetic activity and desiccation of plants at 38°C and it had more detrimental effect compared with desiccation at 23°C. The study on isolated thylakoids demonstrated increased distribution of excitation energy to PSI as a result of the HT treatment, which was enhanced upon the desiccation. It could be related to partial destacking of thylakoid membranes, which was confirmed by electron microscopy data. In addition, the surface charge density of thylakoid membranes isolated from plants desiccated at 38°C was higher in comparison with those at 23°C, which was in agreement with the decreased membrane stacking. Dehydration led to a decrease of amplitudes of oxygen yields and to a loss of the oscillation pattern. Following rehydration, the recovery of CO2 assimilation and fluorescence properties were better when desiccation was performed at optimal temperature compared to high temperature. Rehydration resulted in partial recovery of the amplitudes of flash oxygen yields as well as of population of S0 state in plants desiccated at 23°C. However, it was not observed in plants dehydrated at 38°C. and M. Velitchkova ... [et al.].
Hindlimb unweighting (HU) leads to capillary regression in skeletal muscle. However, the molecular mechanism(s) remains to be elucidated. To gain insight into the regulation of this process, we investigated gene expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), angiopoietin, and their receptors in the atrophied muscle induced by HU. The hindlimbs of mice were unweighted by tail-suspension and then the gastrocnemius muscles were isolated after 10 days. To assess the capillary distribution, the capillary endothelium in frozen transverse sections was identified by staining for alkaline phosphatase. The mRNA levels were analyzed using a real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. After 10 days of HU, the number of capillaries around a muscle fiber was significantly decreased by 19.5 %, suggesting that capillary regression appears to occur. The expression of HIF-1α was significantly down-regulated after 10 days of HU. The expression of VEGF remained unchanged, whereas those of Flt-1, KDR/Flk-1, and neuropilin-1 were significantly down-regulated, suggesting that VEGF signaling through these receptors would be attenuated. The expression of angiopoietin-1, and -2, as well as their receptor, Tie-2 were also significantly down-regulated, suggesting that angiopoietin-1 signaling through Tie-2 would be attenuated. These findings suggest that alterations in expression of VEGF, angiopoietins, and their receptors may be associated with capillary regression after HU., A. Wagatsuma., and Obsahuje biblografii a bibliografické odkazy
Age of host eggs can be a limiting factor for egg parasitoids. It is expected that old eggs are less preferred by egg parasitoids, which can discriminate between eggs of different ages by using chemical cues. The objective of this study was to determine the preference, development and arrestment of Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) parasitizing Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) eggs of different ages. This egg parasitoid preferred to parasitize 1- and 2-day-old eggs rather than 3-day-old eggs in choice and no-choice assays. However, although the percentage emergence of parasitoids is significantly lower from 2- and 3-day-old eggs, the sex ratio and developmental time are unaffected. Parasitoids spent longer searching substrates impregnated with extracts of 1- and 2-day old eggs than 3-day-old eggs. Our results reveal that T. remus is able to distinguish the most suitable (1-day-old) from the least suitable (3-day-old) host eggs, but unable to recognize the unsuitability of intermediate aged eggs. Egg arrestants may be responsible for the preference of T. remus for ovipositing in 1- and 2-day old eggs., Maria Fernanda Gomes Villalba Penaflor ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Although the effects of host plant quality on the performance of polyphagous herbivores are largely uniform across insect taxa, there are various exceptions to this rule. In particular, there are scattered reports of cases in which the relative quality of different hosts differs among larval instars of a single insect species. Such cases are explained either in terms of differences in the susceptibility of different aged larvae to plant defences or, alternatively, age-specific nutritional demands. Here we report the results of experiments that show that young larvae of the polyphagous common heath moth Ematurga atomaria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) consistently attain higher weights on common heather Calluna vulgaris than bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus, whereas the rank order of these host plants is reversed in the final larval instar. Phytochemical analyses showed that differences in nutrient content of these plants are not likely to explain the observed pattern. Instead, the results are more consistent with the idea that the greater chemical defence of bilberry has a relatively stronger influence on young than old larvae., Helen Vellau, Siiri-Lii Sandre, Toomas Tammaru., and Seznam literatury