Primulina tabacum Hance is an endangered perennial herb distributed in calcium-rich and nitrogen-limited soil of the karst limestone areas in southern China. The morphological, ultrastructural, and physiological traits were determined for P. tabacum populations growing in three different environment conditions: twilight zone of a cave (site TZ, extremely low light intensity), at a cave entrance (site EZ, low light intensity), and in an open area (site OA, high light intensity). At site OA, P. tabacum plants were exposed to high light (635 μmol m-2 s-1 of mean daily photosynthetically active radiation) with drought stress, and expressed traits to minimize light capture and water loss. Compared to plants at sites EZ and TZ, those at site OA had thicker leaves with higher densities of stomata and pubescence, higher palisade/spongy ratio, higher light-saturated rate of net photosynthetic rate (Pmax), higher biomass, higher non-photochemical quenching coefficient (NPQ), and higher light saturation point (LSP) but fewer grana per chloroplast and less thylakoid stacking per granum. In contrast, P. tabacum growing at the cave vicinities: EZ (mean daily irradiance 59 μmol m-2 s-1) and TZ (mean daily irradiance 11 μmol m-2 s-1) showed typical shade-adapted characteristics for optimum light capture. The presence of sun- and shade-adapted characteristics indicates that P. tabacum has different strategies to cope with different environments but whether these strategies reflect genetic selection or phenological plasticity is yet to be determined. Such variability in physiological and morphological traits is important for the survival of P. tabacum in heterogeneous light conditions. and K. M. Liang ... [et al.].
Glechoma longituba (Nakai) Kupr. is a perennial shade plant with pharmaceutical importance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of light intensity on the growth, photosynthesis, and accumulation of secondary metabolites in G. longituba grown under six different light environments. The high light intensity decreased the leaf size, specific leaf area, and aboveground dry mass, the number of grana per chloroplast, the number of lamella per granum, the thickness of the grana, the apparent quantum efficiency, the chlorophyll (Chl) content, the concentrations of ursolic and oleanolic acid. The high light increased the stomatal density, the stoma size, the number of chloroplast per a cell, the chloroplast size, the dark respiration rate, the light saturation point, the light compensation point, and the Chl a/b ratio. With the reduction in the light intensity, the light-saturated net photosynthetic rate, the aerial dry mass per plant, and the yields of ursolic and oleanolic acid decreased after an initial increase, peaking at 16 and 33% of sunlight levels. Overall, the 16 and 33% irradiance levels were the most efficient in improving the yields and qualities of the medicinal plant. The lower light demand and growth characteristics suggest that G. longituba is an extremely
shade-tolerant plant and that appropriate light intensity management might be feasible to obtain higher yields of secondary metabolites in agricultural management., L. X. Zhang, Q. S. Guo, Q. S. Chang, Z. B. Zhu, L. Liu, Y. H. Chen., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Excitation kinetics based on feedback regulation of chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence of leaves measured with the chlorophyll fluorometer, FluoroMeter Modul (FMM), are presented. These kinetics showed the variation of excitation light (laser power, LP) regulated by the feedback mechanism of the FMM, an intelligent Chl fluorometer with embedded computer, which maintains the fluorescence response constant during the 300-s transient between the dark- and light-adapted state of photosynthesis. The excitation kinetics exhibited a rise of LP with different time constants and fluctuations leading to a type of steady state. The variation of excitation kinetics were demonstrated using the example of primary leaves of etiolated barley seedlings (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Barke) during 48 h of greening in the light with gradual accumulation of Chl and development of photosynthetic activity. The excitation kinetics showed a fast rise followed by a short plateau at ca. 30 s and finally a slow constant increase up to 300 s. Only in the case of 2 h of greening in the light, the curve reached a stable steady state after 75 s followed by a slight decline. The final LP value (at 300 s of illumination) increased up to 12 h of greening and decreased with longer greening times. The active feedback mechanism of the FMM adjusted the excitation light during the measurement to the actual photosynthetic capacity of the individual leaf sample. In this way, the illumination with excessive light was avoided. The novel excitation kinetics can be used to characterize health, stress, disease, and/or product quality of plant material., C. Buschmann ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We aimed to find out relations among nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ), gross photosynthetic rate (PG), and photoinhibition during photosynthetic light induction in three woody species (one pioneer tree and two understory shrubs) and four ferns adapted to different light regimes. Pot-grown plants received 100% and/or 10% sunlight according to their light-adaptation capabilities. After at least four months of light acclimation, CO2 exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence were measured simultaneously in the laboratory. We found that during light induction the formation and relaxation of the transient NPQ was closely related to light intensity, light-adaption capability of species, and PG. NPQ with all treatments increased rapidly within the first 1-2 min of the light induction. Thereafter, only species with high PG and electron transport rate (ETR), i.e., one pioneer tree and one mild shade-adapted fern, showed NPQ relaxing rapidly to a low steady-state level within 6-8 min under PPFD of 100 μmol(photon) m-2 s-1 and ambient CO2 concentration. Leaves with low PG and ETR, regardless of species characteristics or inhibition by low CO2 concentration, showed slow or none NPQ relaxation up to 20 min after the start of low light induction. In contrast, NPQ increased slowly to a steady state (one pioneer tree) or it did not reach the steady state (the others) from 2 to 30 min under PPFD of 2,000 μmol m-2 s-1. Under high excess of light energy, species adapted to or plants acclimated to high light exhibited high NPQ at the initial 1 or 2 min, and showed low photoinhibition after 30 min of light induction. The value of fastest-developing NPQ can be quickly and easily obtained and might be useful for physiological studies., S.-L. Wong, M.-Y. Huang, C.-W. Chen, J.-H. Weng., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Vision is a fascinating example of the interaction of a biological system with the outside world. The first step of translating electromagnetic energy into a biologically recognizable signal involves the phototransduction cascade in retinal photoreceptor cells. Phototransduction is the best studied example of a GTP binding protein (G protein)- coupled signal transduction pathway. A great body of knowledge about phototransduction has been established in the past several decades but there are still many unanswered questions, particularly about photoresponse recovery and adaptation. The purpose of this review is to outline the events following photon absorption by vertebrate photoreceptors, to demonstrate the great complexity of the phototransduction cascade mechanisms, and to point out some of the controversies arising from recent fmdings in the field of visual transduction.