The Effects of Enhanced Ultraviolet-B Radiation on Leaf Photosynthesis and Submicroscopic Structures in Mangifera indica L. cv. ‘Tainong No 1’

Abstract

Objective: In the future, the stress of enhanced UV-B radiation on the Earth will first affect the photosynthesis of plants, including mangoes. Therefore, it is necessary to study the effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on the photosynthesis of mangoes. Methods: ‘Tainong No 1’ mango trees in the field were selected as the experimental material and divided into 2 groups: one group was shined under 96 kJ·m−2·d−1 UV-B lamps for artificially simulated treatment of enhanced UV-B radiation, and the other group was shined under sunshine directly as the control (CK). The main photosynthetic physiological indicators were measured with conventional methods, and the expression levels of the genes encoding large and small subunits of the Rubisco enzyme were measured with fluorescent qPCR. The changes in stomatal morphology and chloroplast structure were observed with scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Results: The content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the relative conductivity in the leaves of the treatment tended to be significantly higher than those of the CK. The net photosynthetic rate (Pn) of the treatment tended to decrease and be lower than that of CK. The dynamics of intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) of the treatment and CK changed differently from each other but generally tended to decrease, and that of the treatment tended to be significantly higher than that of CK. The stomatal conductance (Gs) of the treatment and CK both generally decreased, and that of the treatment was always significantly lower than that of CK. The contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll and the ratio of chlorophyll a/b of the treatment were lower than those of CK, while the carotenoid content showed the opposite trend. The stomata and the surface of leaves of the treatment were sunken and damaged, respectively. The palisade tissue, spongy tissue and upper epidermis thickened more, and the total thickness significantly increased. Meanwhile, the ratio of palisade tissue to spongy tissue decreased. During treatment, the chloroplasts were swollen and shortened, the number of chloroplasts was reduced, the starch grains were degraded, and the grana lamella were distorted, loosely arranged and blurred. The expression of the genes encoding the Rubisco large subunit (rbcL) in the treatment was significantly inhibited, while that encoding the Rubisco small subunit (rbcS) decreased first and increased later. In conclusion, 96 kJ·m−2·d−1 enhanced UV-B radiation treatment caused damage to the leaf cell membrane system. This led to stomatal limitation of photosynthesis by destroying the stomatal structure and nonstomatal limitation of photosynthesis by damaging the submicrostructure of the chloroplasts and downregulating the expression of rbcL. The leaves may resist the photosynthetic damage caused by enhanced UV-B radiation by upregulating rbcS expression as much as possible.