Photosynthetica 2011, 49(4):555-563 | DOI: 10.1007/s11099-011-0072-5

Effects of osmotic- and high-light stresses on PSII efficiency of attached and detached leaves of three tree species adapted to different water regimes

J. H. Weng1,3,*, C. T. Chien2, C. W. Chen3, X. M. Lai3
1 Graduate Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
2 Division of Silviculture, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Taipei, Taiwan
3 Department of Life Science, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan

Abscisic acid (ABA), an important chemical signal from roots, causes physiological changes in leaves, including stomata closure and photoprotection. Furthermore, endogenous ABA concentration in leaves and stomatal behavior vary with the species adapted to different water regimes. In this study, Ficus microcarpa, a hemiepiphyte, Salix warburgii, a hygrophyte, and Acacia confusa, a mesophyte, were used to elucidate the effects of leaf detachment on photosystem II (PSII) efficiency under osmotic- and high-light stresses. Results indicate that, under osmotic- and high-light stresses, PSII efficiency of the detached leaves was lower than that of the attached leaves for all three tree species, when compared at the same levels of stomatal resistance and leaf water potential. Exogenous ABA could mitigate the PSII efficiency decrease of detached F. microcarpa leaves under osmotic- and high-light stresses. Yet, the osmotic stress could raise endogenous ABA concentration in the attached, but not in the detached F. microcarpa leaves. In addition, partial root-zone drying exerted a significant effect on stomatal behavior but not on the water status of F. microcarpa leaves. These observations imply that the stronger ability of PSII in the attached leaves of F. microcarpa under osmoticand high-light stresses was probably due to the protective action of ABA from roots. On the contrary, endogenous ABA level of S. warburgii leaves was very low. In addition, partial root-zone drying produced no significant effect on its stomatal behavior. Therefore, PSII in attached S. warburgii leaves was possibly protected from the damaging effects of excess absorbed energy by signals other than ABA, which were transported from the roots.

Keywords: abscisic acid; Acacia confusa; chlorophyll fluorescence; Ficus microcarpa; osmotic stress; Salix warburgii

Received: December 3, 2010; Accepted: August 25, 2011; Published: December 1, 2011Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Weng, J.H., Chien, C.T., Chen, C.W., & Lai, X.M. (2011). Effects of osmotic- and high-light stresses on PSII efficiency of attached and detached leaves of three tree species adapted to different water regimes. Photosynthetica, 49(4), 555-563. doi: 10.1007/s11099-011-0072-5.
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)

    • Open full article

    References

    1. Aasamaa, K., Sõber, A.: Hydraulic conductance and stomatal sensitivity to changes of leaf water status in six deciduous tree species. - Biol. Plant. 44: 65-73, 2001. Go to original source...
    2. Aasamaa, K., Sõber, A., Hartung, W., Ninemets, Ü.: Rate of stomatal opening, shoot hydraulic conductance and photosynthetic characteristics in relation to leaf abscisic acid concentration in six temperate deciduous trees. - Tree Physiol. 22: 267-276, 2002. Go to original source...
    3. Agarwal, S., Sairam, R.K., Srivastava, G.C., Tyagi, A., Meena, R.C.: Role of ABA, salicylic acid, calcium and hydrogen peroxide on antioxidant enzymes induction in wheat seedlings. - Plant Sci. 169: 559-570, 2005. Go to original source...
    4. Bechtold, U., Richard, O., Zamboni, A., Gapper, C., Geisler, M.: Impact of chloroplastic- and extracellular-sourced ROS on high light-responsive gene expression in Arabidopsis. - J. Exp. Bot. 59: 121-133, 2008. Go to original source...
    5. Beckett, R.P., Csintalan, Z., Tuba, Z.: ABA treatment increases both the desiccation tolerance of photosynthesis, and nonphotochemical quenching in the moss Atrichum undulatum. - Plant Ecol. 151: 65-71, 2000. Go to original source...
    6. Bray, E.A.: Abscisic acid regulation of gene expression during water-deficit stress in the era of the Arabidopsis genome. - Plant Cell Environ. 25: 153-161, 2002. Go to original source...
    7. Chen, S.Y., Chien, C.T., Chung, J.D., Yang, Y.S., Kuo, S.R.: Dormancy-break and germination in seeds of Prunus campanulata (Rosaceae): Role of covering layers and changes in concentration of abscisic acid and gibberellins. - Seed Sci. Res. 17: 21-32, 2007. Go to original source...
    8. Cornic, G., Massacci, A.: Leaf photosynthesis under drought stress. - In: Baker, N.R., (ed.): Photosynthesis and Environment. Pp. 347-366, Kluwer Acad. Publish., Dordrecht 1996. Go to original source...
    9. Davies, W.J., Zhang, J.: Root signals and the regulation of growth and development of plant in drying soil. - Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 42: 55-76, 1991. Go to original source...
    10. Demmig-Adams, B., Adams, W.W., III: The role of xanthophylls cycle carotenoids in the protection of photosynthesis. - Trends Plant Sci. 1: 21-26, 1996. Go to original source...
    11. Dodd, I.C.: Root-to-shoot signalling: Assessing the roles of 'up' in the up and down world of long-distance signalling in planta. - Plant Soil 274: 251-270, 2005. Go to original source...
    12. Dodd, I.C., Theobald, J.C., Richer, S.K., Davies, W.J.: Partial phenotypic reversion of ABA-deficient flacca tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) scions by a wild-type rootstock: normalizing shoot ethylene relations promotes leaf area but does not diminish whole plant transpiration rate. - J. Exp. Bot. 60: 4029-4039, 2009. Go to original source...
    13. Dong, H., Niu, Y., Li, W., Zhang, D.: Effects of cotton rootstock on endogenous cytokinins and abscisic acid in xylem sap and leaves in relation to leaf senescence. - J. Exp. Bot. 59: 1295-1304, 2008. Go to original source...
    14. Giraudat, J., Parcy, F., Bertauche, N., Gost, F., Leung, J., Morris, P.C., Bouvier-Durand, M., Vartanian, N.: Current advances in abscisic acid action and signalling. - Plant Mol. Biol. 26: 1557-1577, 1994. Go to original source...
    15. Haimeirong, Kubota, F., Yoshimura, Y.: Estimation of photosynthetic activity from the electron transport rate of photosystem 2 in a film-sealed leaf of sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas Lam. - Photosynthetica 40: 337-341, 2002. Go to original source...
    16. Hideg, E., Kalai, T., Hideg, K., Vass, I.: Photoinhibition of photosynthesis in vivo results in singlet oxygen production detection via nitroxideinduced fluorescence quenching in broad bean leaves. - Biochemistry 237: 11405-11411, 1998. Go to original source...
    17. Holbrook, N.M., Putz, F.E.: Water relations of epiphytic and terrestrially-rooted strangler figs in a Venezuelan palm savanna. - Oecologia 106: 424-431, 1996. Go to original source...
    18. Jia, H.S., Lu, C.M.: Effects of abscisic acid on photoinhibition in maize (Zea mays L.) under high irradiation. - Plant Sci. 165: 1403-1410, 2003. Go to original source...
    19. Jia, W.S., Zhang, J.H.: Stomatal movements and long-distance signaling in plants. - Plant Signal. Behav. 3:10, 772-777, 2008. Go to original source...
    20. Jiang, M., Zhang, J.: Effect of abscisic acid on active oxygen species, antioxidative defence system and oxidative damage in leaves of maize seedlings. - Plant Cell Physiol. 42: 1265-1273, 2001. Go to original source...
    21. Kato, M.C., Hikosaka, K., Hirose, T.: Leaf discs floated on water are different from intact leaves in photosynthesis and photoinhibition. - Photosynth. Res. 72: 65-70, 2002. Go to original source...
    22. Lawlor, D.W., Cornic, G.: Photosynthetic carbon assimilation and associated metabolism in relation to water deficits in higher plants. - Plant Cell Environ. 25: 275-294, 2002. Go to original source...
    23. Loewenstein, N.J., Pallardy, S.G.: Drought tolerance, xylem sap abscisic acid and stomatal conductance during soil drying: a comparison of canopy trees of three temperate deciduous angiosperms. - Tree Physiol. 18: 431-439, 1998. Go to original source...
    24. Logan, B.A., Kornyeyev, D., Hardison, J., Holaday, A.S.: The role of antioxidant enzymes in photoprotection. - Photosynth. Res. 88: 119-132, 2006. Go to original source...
    25. Lu, S., Su, W., Li, H., Guo, Z.: Abscisic acid improves drought tolerance of triploid bermudagrass and involves H2O2- and NO-induced antioxidant enzyme activities. - Plant Physiol. Biochem. 47: 132-138, 2009. Go to original source...
    26. Mancuso, S., Mugnai, S.: Long-distance signal transmission in trees. - In: Baluška, F., Mancuso, S., Volkmann, D. (ed.): Communication in Plants Pp. 333-349. Springer-Verlag, Berlin - Heidelberg 2006. Go to original source...
    27. Martin, B., Ruiz-Torres, N.A.: Effects of water-deficit stress on photosynthesis, its components and component limitations, on water use efficiency in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). - Plant Physiol. 100: 733-739, 1992. Go to original source...
    28. Maxwell, K., Johnson, G.N.: Chlorophyll fluorescence- a practical guide. - J. Exp. Bot. 51: 659-668, 2000. Go to original source...
    29. Murata, N., Takahashi, S., Nishiyama, Y., Allakhverdiev, S.I.: Photoinhibition of photosystem II under environmental stress. - Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1767: 414-421, 2007. Go to original source...
    30. Niyogi, K.K.: Photoprotection revisited: genetic and molecular approaches. - Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 50: 333-359, 1999. Go to original source...
    31. Nobel, P.S., De la Barrera, E.: Stem water relations and net CO2 uptake for a hemiepiphytic cactus during short-term drought. - Environ. Exp. Bot. 48: 129-137, 2002. Go to original source...
    32. Percival, G.C., Fraser, G.A.: Measurement of the salinity and freezing tolerance of Crataegus genotypes using chlorophyll fluorescence. - J. Arboric. 27: 233-245, 2001.
    33. Potvin, C.: Effect of leaf detachment on chlorophyll fluorescence during chilling experiments. - Plant Physiol. 78: 883-886, 1985. Go to original source...
    34. Powles, S.B.: Photoinhibition of photosynthesis induced by visible light. - Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. 35: 15-44, 1984. Go to original source...
    35. Sharma, P.K., Sankhalkar, S., Fernandes, Y.: Possible function of ABA in protection against photodamage by stimulating xanthophyll cycle in sorghum seedlings. - Curr. Sci. 82: 167-171, 2002.
    36. Stuhlfauth, T., Scheuermann, R., Fock, H.P.: Light energy dissipation under water stress conditions. Contribution of reassimilation and evidence for additional processes. - Plant Physiol. 92: 1053-1061, 1990. Go to original source...
    37. Valladares, V., Pearcy, R.W.: Interaction between water stress, sun-shade acclimation, heat tolerance and photoinhibition in the sclerophyll Heteromeles arbutifolia. - Plant Cell Environ. 20: 25-36, 1997. Go to original source...
    38. Wang, W., Vinocur, B., Altman, A.: Plant responses to drought, salinity and extreme temperatures: towards genetic engineering for stress tolerance. - Planta 218: 1-14, 2003. Go to original source...
    39. Weng, J.H.: The role of active and passive water uptake in maintaining leaf water status and photosynthesis in tomato under water deficit. - Plant Prod. Sci. 3: 296-298, 2000. Go to original source...
    40. Weng, J.H., Lai, K.M., Liao, T.S., Hwang, M.Y., Chen, Y.N.: Relationships of photosynthetic capacity to PSII efficiency and to photochemical reflectance index of Pinus taiwanensis through different seasons at high and low elevations of subtropical Taiwan. - Trees 23: 347-356, 2009. Go to original source...
    41. Zotz, G., Hietz, P.: The physiological ecology of vascular epiphytes: current knowledge, open questions. - J. Exp. Bot. 52: 2067-2078, 2001. Go to original source...

    Return to the content