Abstract
In this study, for a first time (according to our knowledge), we couple the methodologies of chlorophyll fluorescence imaging analysis (CF-IA) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), in order to investigate the effects of cadmium (Cd) accumulation on photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry. We used as plant material Salvia sclarea that grew hydroponically with or without (control) 100 μM Cd for five days. The spatial heterogeneity of a decreased effective quantum yield of electron transport (ΦPSΙΙ) that was observed after exposure to Cd was linked to the spatial pattern of high Cd accumulation. However, the high increase of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), at the leaf part with the high Cd accumulation, resulted in the decrease of the quantum yield of non-regulated energy loss (ΦNO) even more than that of control leaves. Thus, S. sclarea leaves exposed to 100 μM Cd exhibited lower reactive oxygen species (ROS) production as singlet oxygen (1O2). In addition, the increased photoprotective heat dissipation (NPQ) in the whole leaf under Cd exposure was sufficient enough to retain the same fraction of open reaction centers (qp) with control leaves. Our results demonstrated that CF-IA and LA-ICP-MS could be successfully combined to monitor heavy metal effects and plant tolerance mechanisms.
Highlights
Cadmium (Cd), a non-essential element for plants, is considered to be as one of the most toxic elements for plants because it is not biodegradable in soil and it accumulates in the environment exhibiting toxic effects [1,2,3]
chlorophyll fluorescence imaging analysis (CF-IA) revealed a photosynthetic heterogeneity in the studied leaf area of S. sclarea leaves under Cd exposure
Exposure of S. sclarea plants to Cd resulted in spatial leaf heterogeneity of ΦPSII, with the decreased
Summary
Cadmium (Cd), a non-essential element for plants, is considered to be as one of the most toxic elements for plants because it is not biodegradable in soil and it accumulates in the environment exhibiting toxic effects [1,2,3]. It can appear in the environment at high concentrations, due to several human activities (industrial and agricultural activities, such as mining and smelting of metalliferous ores, electroplating, wastewater irrigation, and abuse of chemical fertilizers) and subsequently becomes toxic to all living organisms [3,4,5,6]. The absorbed light energy is converted into chemical energy via photosystem II (PSII) and photosystem I (PSI) that work co-operatively to transfer efficiently photosynthetic electrons from H2 O to NADP+ (forming NADPH)
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