Egyptian plant species as new ozone indicators

Abstract

The aim of this study was to test and select one or more highly sensitive, specific and environmentally successful Egyptian bioindicator plants for ozone (O3). For that purpose more than 30 Egyptian species and cultivars were subjected to extensive screening studies under controlled environmental and pollutant exposure conditions to mimic the Egyptian environmental conditions and O3 levels in urban and rural sites. Four plant species were found to be more sensitive to O3 than the universally used O3-bioindicator, tobacco Bel W3, under the Egyptian environmental conditions used. These plant species, jute (Corchorus olitorius c.v. local), clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L. c.v. Masry), garden rocket (Eruca sativa c.v. local) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. c.v. local), ranked in order of decreasing sensitivity, exhibited typical O3 injury symptoms faster and at lower O3 concentrations than Bel W3. Three variables were tested in search of a reliable tool for the diagnosis and prediction of O3 response prior to the appearance of visible foliar symptoms: pigment degradation, stomatal conductance (gs) and net photosynthetic CO2 assimilation (Pnet). Pigment degradation was found to be unreliable in predicting species sensitivity to O3. Evidence supporting stomatal conductance involvement in O3 tolerance was found only in tolerant species. A good correlation was found between gs, restriction of O3 and CO2 influx into the mesophyll tissues, and Pnet. Changes in Pnet seemed to depend largely on fluctuations in gs.