Photosynthetica, 2013 (vol. 51), issue 4

Photosynthetica 2013, 51(4):552-564 | DOI: 10.1007/s11099-013-0055-9

Gender, mediterranean drought, and seasonality: photosystem II photochemistry in Pistacia lentiscus L.

S. Ait Said1,2,*, F. Torre3, A. Derridj1, T. Gauquelin2, J. P. Mevy2
1 Faculté des Sciences Biologiques et des Sciences Agronomiques, Université Mouloud, MAMMERI, Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria
2 Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie Marine et continentale (IMBE) - UMR CNRS 7263/IRD 237, Equipe Diversité et Fonctionnement: des Molécules aux Ecosystèmes, Aix-Marseille Université, Centre Saint Charles, Marseille Cedex 3, France
3 Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie Marine et continentale (IMBE) - UMR CNRS 7263/IRD 237, Equipe Ecologie de la Conservation et Interactions Biotiques, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille Cedex 20, France

In this work, photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry, leaf water potential, and pigment contents of male and female Pistacia lentiscus L. were investigated during a seasonal cycle at three different, arid locations: superior semiarid, inferior semiarid, and arid. The results showed that the gender, season, and the site conditions interacted to influence the quantum yield and pigment contents in P. lentiscus. Predawn leaf water status was determined only by the site and season. The annual patterns of PSII maximum quantum efficiency (Fv/Fm) were characterized by a suboptimal activity during the winter, especially, populations with the more negative water potential exhibited a lower chlorophyll (Chl) a content and chronic photoinhibition irrespective of a gender. We also demonstrated that both photochemical or nonphotochemical mechanisms were involved to avoid the photoinhibition and both of them depended on the season. This plasticity of photosynthetic machinery was accompanied by changes in carotenoids and Chl balance. In the spring, the female Fv/Fm ratio was significantly higher than in male individuals, when the sexual dimorphism occurred during the fruiting stage, regardless of site conditions. P. lentiscus sex-ratio in Mediterranean areas, where precipitations exceeded 500 mm, was potentially female-biased. Among the fluorescence parameters investigated, nonphotochemical quenching coefficient appeared as the most useful one and a correlation was found between Chl a content and Fv/Fm. These results suggest that functional ecology studies would be possible on a large scale through light reflectance analysis.

Keywords: aridity; carotenoids; chlorophyll; fluorescence; photoinhibition; Pistacia lentiscus L.; seasonality; sex

Received: August 26, 2012; Accepted: April 3, 2013; Published: December 1, 2013Show citation

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Said, S., Torre, F., Derridj, A., Gauquelin, T., & Mevy, J.P. (2013). Gender, mediterranean drought, and seasonality: photosystem II photochemistry in Pistacia lentiscus L. Photosynthetica, 51(4), 552-564. doi: 10.1007/s11099-013-0055-9.
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