Responses of photosynthetic parameters to differences in winter temperatures throughout a temperature gradient in two evergreen tree species (original) (raw)
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Plant, Cell and Environment, 2002
Seedlings of Lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta L.) and winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. cv. Monopol) were cold acclimated under controlled conditions to induce frost hardiness. Lodgepole pine responded to cold acclimation by partial inhibition of photosynthesis with an associated partial loss of photosystem II reaction centres, and a reduction in needle chlorophyll content. This was accompanied by a low daily carbon gain, and the development of a high and sustained capacity for non-photochemical quenching of absorbed light. This sustained dissipation of absorbed light as heat correlated with an increased de-epoxidation of the xanthophyll cycle pigments forming the quenching forms antheraxanthin and zeaxanthin. In addition, the PsbS protein known to bind chlorophyll and the xanthophyll cycle pigments increased strongly during cold acclimation of pine. In contrast, winter wheat maintained high photosynthetic rates, showed no loss of chlorophyll content per leaf area, and exhibited a high daily carbon gain and a minimal non-photochemical quenching after cold acclimation. In accordance, cold acclimation of wheat neither increased the de-epoxidation of the xanthophylls nor the content of the PsbS protein. These different responses of photosynthesis to cold acclimation are correlated with pine, reducing its need for assimilates when entering dormancy associated with termination of primary growth, whereas winter wheat maintains a high need for assimilates as it continues to grow and develop throughout the cold-acclimation period. It appears that without evolving a sustained ability for controlled dissipation of absorbed light as heat throughout the winter, winter green conifers would not have managed to adapt and establish themselves so successfully in the cold climatic zones of the northern hemisphere.
Plant and Cell Physiology, 2008
temperature homeostasis and what factors affect the temperature homeostasis. To analyze the inherent ability of plants to acclimate respiration and photosynthesis to different growth temperatures, we examined 11 herbaceous crops with different cold tolerance. Leaf respiration ( R area ) and photosynthetic rate ( P area ) under high light at 360 µ l l -1 CO 2 concentrations were measured in plants grown at 15 and 30°C. Cold-tolerant species showed a greater extent of temperature homeostasis of both R area and P area than cold-sensitive species. The underlying mechanisms which caused differences in the extent of temperature homeostasis were examined. The extent of temperature homeostasis of P area was not determined by differences in leaf mass and nitrogen content per leaf area, but by differences in photosynthetic nitrogen use effi ciency (PNUE). Moreover, differences in PNUE were due to differences in the maximum catalytic rate of Rubisco, Rubisco contents and amounts of nitrogen invested in Rubisco. These fi ndings indicated that the temperature homeostasis of photosynthesis was regulated by various parameters. On the other hand, the extent of temperature homeostasis of R area was unrelated to the maximum activity of the respiratory enzyme (NAD-malic enzyme). The R area / P area ratio was maintained irrespective of the growth temperatures in all the species, suggesting that the extent of temperature homeostasis of R area interacted with the photosynthetic rate and/or the homeostasis of photosynthesis.
Carbon export from leaf mesophyll to sugar-transporting phloem occurs via either an apoplastic (across the cell membrane) or symplastic (through plasmodesmatal cell wall openings) pathway. Herbaceous apoplastic loaders generally exhibit an up-regulation of photosynthetic capacity in response to growth at lower temperature. However, acclimation of photosynthesis to temperature by symplastically loading species, whose geographic distribution is particularly strong in tropical and subtropical areas, has not been characterized. Photosynthetic and leaf anatomical acclimation to lower temperature was explored in two symplastic (Verbascum phoeniceum, Cucurbita pepo) and two apoplastic (Helianthus annuus, Spinacia oleracea) loaders, representing summer- and winter-active life histories for each loading type. Regardless of phloem loading type, the two summer-active species, C. pepo and H. annuus, exhibited neither foliar anatomical nor photosynthetic acclimation when grown under low temperature compared to moderate temperature. In contrast, and again irrespective of phloem loading type, the two winter-active mesophytes, V. phoeniceum and S. oleracea, exhibited both a greater number of palisade cell layers (and thus thicker leaves) and significantly higher maximal capacities of photosynthetic electron transport, as well as, in the case of V. phoeniceum, a greater foliar vein density in response to cool temperatures compared to growth at moderate temperature. It is therefore noteworthy that symplastic phloem loading per se does not prevent acclimation of intrinsic photosynthetic capacity to cooler growth temperatures. Given the vagaries of weather and climate, understanding the basis of plant acclimation to, and tolerance of, low temperature is critical to maintaining and increasing plant productivity for food, fuel, and fiber to meet the growing demands of a burgeoning human population.
Physiologia Plantarum, 2001
Growth, photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism in plants of two grassland species, clover (Trifolium subterra neum L. cv. Areces and Gaitan) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), shifted from 25 to 12°C for 1 day or developed at 12°C were compared with controls kept at 25°C. Cold development produced a larger inhibition of growth in fescue than in clovers. In contrast, transferring plants from high to low temperature inhibited photosynthesis to a lesser extent in fescue than in clovers, this difference being associated with an increase in the activation state of Calvin cycle enzymes in fescue, but not in the clovers, a decreased cytosolic fructose-1,6bisphosphatase (cFBPase, EC 3.1.3.11) activity in clovers, and an accumulation of hexose phosphates only in fescue. Development at 12°C partly relieved the inhibition of photosynthesis in clovers, in contrast with fescue, which correlated with increases in total ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (Rubisco, EC 4.1.1.39) activity only in clovers, and with greater increases in total stromal FBPase (sFBPase) activity in clovers than in fescue. The activity of sucrose synthesis enzymes was increased in the two clovers and fescue developed in the cold, while carbohydrate accumulation was much bigger in cold-developed fescue than in clovers because of a 5-fold increase in fructan contents in the former. The contents of phosphorylated intermediates increased in clovers but decreased in fescue grown at 12°C. Our results suggest that restricted ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) regeneration limited the recovery of photosynthetic capacity in cold-developed fescue.
Trees, 2005
We investigated the response of the photosynthetic apparatus during an episode of extreme low winter temperature in Quercus ilex subsp. ballota (Desf.) Samp., a typical Mediterranean evergreen species in the Iberian peninsula. Both plants in a woodland located at high altitude (1,177 m. a.s.l.) and potted plants obtained from acorns of the same populations grown at low altitude (225 m. a.s.l.) were analyzed. Net CO 2 assimilation rate was negative and there was a marked decrease in photosystem II (PSII) efficiency during winter in leaves of the woodland population (high altitude individuals). These processes were accompanied by increases in nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) and in the de-epoxidated carotenoids within the xanthophyll cycle, mechanisms aimed to dissipate excess energy. In addition, these deepoxidated carotenoids were largely preserved during the night. There was no chlorophyll bleaching during the winter, which suggests that leaves were not experiencing photoinhibitory damage. In fact, the net photosynthetic rate and the PSII efficiency recovered in spring. These changes were not observed, or were much more reduced, in individuals located at lower altitude after a few frosts. When the response to rapid temperature changes (from 20°C to −5°C and from −5°C to 20°C) was studied, it was found that the maximum potential PSII efficiency was fairly stable, ranging from 0.70 to 0.75. The rest of the photosynthetic parameters measured, actual and intrinsic PSII efficiency, photochemical and NPQ, responded immediately to the changes in temperature and, also, the recovery after cold events was practically immediate.
Photosynthesis research, 2001
Two very distinctive responses of photosynthesis to winter conditions have been identified. Mesophytic species that continue to exhibit growth during the winter typically exhibit higher maximal rates of photosynthesis during the winter or when grown at lower temperatures compared to individuals examined during the summer or when grown at warmer temperatures. In contrast, sclerophytic evergreen species growing in sun-exposed sites typically exhibit lower maximal rates of photosynthesis in the winter compared to the summer. On the other hand, shaded individuals of those same sclerophytic evergreen species exhibit similar or higher maximal rates of photosynthesis in the winter compared to the summer. Employment of the xanthophyll cycle in photoprotective energy dissipation exhibits similar characteristics in the two groups of plants (mesophytes and shade leaves of sclerophytic evergreens) that exhibit upregulation of photosynthesis during the winter. In both, zeaxanthin + antheraxanthi...
Plants show flexible acclimation of leaf photosynthesis to temperature that depends both on their prevailing growth environment and the climate where they originated. This acclimation has been shown to involve changes in the temperature responses of the apparent maximum rate of Rubisco carboxylation (V cmax) and apparent maximum rate of electron transport (J max), as well as changes in the ratio of these parameters. We asked whether such changes in photosynthetic biochemistry attributable to climate of origin are similar in nature and magnitude to those attributable to growth environment. To address this question , we measured temperature responses of photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence on six Eucalyptus species from diverse geographical and climatic regions growing in a common garden. Measurements were made in three seasons, allowing us to compare interspecific differences with seasonal changes. We found significant interspecific differences in apparent V cmax and J max standardized to 25 °C, but there were no significant differences in the temperature responses of these parameters among species. Comparing data across seasons, we found significant seasonal changes in apparent V cmax25 , but not in J max25 , causing a change in their ratio (J/V ratio). However, there were no seasonal changes in the temperature response of either parameter. We concluded that the growth environment had a much larger effect on temperature response than climate of origin among this set of species. Mean daytime temperature increased by 15 °C from winter to summer, whereas we estimated that the seasonal change in J/V ratio would cause a change in the optimum temperature (T opt) for gross photosynthesis of 3.6 °C. Use of a general relationship to describe photosynthetic temperature acclimation resulted in a strong underestimation of the T opt for photosynthesis for these species. Our results indicated that variation in photosynthetic temperature responses cannot be captured in one simple relationship with growth temperature. Further comparative research on species groups will be needed to develop a basis for modelling these interspecific differences in plant temperature acclimation.