Photosynthesis studies on European evergreen and deciduous oaks grown under Central European climate conditions: II. Photoinhibitory and light-independent violaxanthin deepoxidation and downregulation of photosystem II in evergreen, winter-acclimated European Quercus taxa

Abstract

In the context of the search for future forestry species in Central Europe under climate change scenarios, the evergreen Mediterranean Quercus taxa Q. ilex ssp. ilex and Q. suber and the semideciduous hybrids. Q. × turneri and Q. × hispanica were studied in relation to their photochemical efficiency of photosystem II and to the activity of the xanthophyll cycle under Central European winter conditions. The evergreen taxa were remarkably insensitive to winter stress in the field and reacted towards frost periods with the phenomenon of “chronic photoinhibition”, i.e. a decrease in pre-dawn F v/F m and an increase in the deepoxidation state of the xanthophylls. Under dark and warmer conditions (room temperature), winter-acclimated leaves of the evergreen taxa except for Q. × turneri produced zea- and antheraxanthin and decreased F v/F m, possibly by creation of a chlororespiratory pH-gradient. It is suggested that the ability for dark violaxanthin deepoxidation may contribute to the winter hardiness of the evergreen taxa.