Abstract
The investigation about the leaf wounding effect on plant physiological procedures and on leaf pigments content will contribute to the understanding of the plants’ responses against this abiotic stress. During the experiment, some physiological parameters such as photosynthesis, transpiration and stomatal conductance as well as the chlorophyll and anthocyanin leaf contents of Ocimum basilicum, Salvia officinalis, and Mentha piperita plants were measured for about 20–40 days. All the measurements were conducted on control and wounded plants while in the latter, they were conducted on both wounded and intact leaves. A wide range of responses was observed in the wounded leaves, that is: (a) immediate decrease of the gas exchange parameters and long-term decrease of almost all the measured variables from O. basilicum, (b) immediate but only short-term decrease of the gas exchange parameters and no effect on pigments from M. piperita, and (c) no effect on the gas exchange parameters and decrease of the pigments content from S. officinalis. Regarding the intact leaves, in general, they exhibited a similar profile with the control ones for all plants. These results imply that the plant response to wounding is a complex phenomenon depending on plant species and the severity of the injury.
Highlights
Plants are usually exposed to a wide variety of environmental stresses depending on the particular geographic and topographic conditions and the overall plant community of their habitat [1]
Leaf wounding provokes the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as O2 − and H2 O2, considering that an accumulation of ROS has been observed a few hours after leaf damage [6,11]
The basil wounded leaves exhibited a decrease in the photosynthetic rate compared to both the intact and control leaves (Figure 1a), as expected, since the decrease in carbon assimilation in remaining leaf tissues is usually reported [13]
Summary
Plants are usually exposed to a wide variety of environmental stresses depending on the particular geographic and topographic conditions and the overall plant community of their habitat [1] These stresses are either abiotic such as water deficiency, high salinity, extreme temperatures, intense radiation [2], or biotic ones such as pathogen infection and insect herbivory [3]. A lot of locally targeted responses have been observed including enzyme activation, gene and metabolic regulation [5,7], synthesis of signaling molecules [6], and phytochemical reactions concerning several secondary metabolites [8] These responses lead to quick healing and closure of the wounded tissues even with the activation of mechanisms such as programmed cell death [5]. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
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