Actual Photosystem II Efficiency Research Articles

Melatonin Affects the Photosynthetic Performance of Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Seedlings under Cold Stress.

Photosynthesis is an important plant metabolic mechanism that improves carbon absorption and crop yield. Photosynthetic efficiency is greatly hampered by cold stress (CS). Melatonin (ME) is a new plant growth regulator that regulates a wide range of abiotic stress responses. However, the molecular mechanism of ME-mediated photosynthetic regulation in cold-stressed plants is not well understood. Our findings suggest that under low-temperature stress (15/5 °C for 7 days), spraying the plant with ME (200 µM) enhanced gas exchange characteristics and the photosynthetic pigment content of pepper seedlings, as well as upregulated their biosynthetic gene expression. Melatonin increased the activity of photosynthetic enzymes (Rubisco and fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase) while also enhancing starch, sucrose, soluble sugar, and glucose content under CS conditions. Low-temperature stress significantly decreased the photochemical activity of photosystem II (PSII) and photosystem I (PSI), specifically their maximum quantum efficiency PSII (Fv/Fm) and PSI (Pm). In contrast, ME treatment improved the photochemical activity of PSII and PSI. Furthermore, CS dramatically reduced the actual PSII efficiency (ΦPSII), electron transport rate (ETR) and photochemical quenching coefficient (qP), while enhancing nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ); however, ME treatment substantially mitigated the effects of CS. Our results clearly show the probable function of ME treatment in mitigating the effects of CS by maintaining photosynthetic performance, which might be beneficial when screening genotypes for CS tolerance.

Melatonin-mediated photosynthetic performance of tomato seedlings under high-temperature stress

Photosynthesis is a fundamental biosynthetic process in plants that can enhance carbon absorption and increase crop productivity. Heat stress severely inhibits photosynthetic efficiency. Melatonin is a bio-stimulator capable of regulating diverse abiotic stress tolerances. However, the underlying mechanisms of melatonin-mediated photosynthesis in plants exposed to heat stress largely remain elucidated. Our results revealed that melatonin treatment (100 μM) in tomato seedlings increased the endogenous melatonin levels and photosynthetic pigment content along with upregulated of their biosynthesis gene expression under high-temperature stress (42 °C for 24 h), whereas heat stress significantly decreased the values of gas exchange parameters. Under heat stress, melatonin boosted CO2 assimilation, i.e., Vc,max (maximum rate of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase, Rubisco), and Jmax (electron transport of Rubisco generation) and also enhanced the Rubisco and FBPase activities, which resulted in upregulated photosynthetic related gene expression. In addition, heat stress greatly reduced the photochemical chemistry of photosystem II (PSII) and photosystem I (PSI), particularly the maximum quantum efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) and PSI (Pm). Conversely, melatonin supplementation increased the chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters led to amplifying the electron transport efficiency. Moreover, heat stress decreased the actual PSII efficiency (ΦPSII), electron transport rate (ETR) and photochemical quenching coefficient (qP), while increasing nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ); however, melatonin reversed these values, which helps to fostering the dissipation of excess excitation energy. Taken together, our results provide a concrete insight into the efficacy of melatonin-mediated photosynthesis performance in a high-temperature regime.

Analysis of the changes of electron transfer and heterogeneity of photosystem II in Deg1-reduced Arabidopsis plants.

Deg1 protease functions in protease and chaperone of PSII complex components, but few works were performed to study the effects of Deg1 on electron transport activities on the donor and acceptor side of PSII and its correlation with the photoprotection of PSII during photoinhibition. Therefore, we performed systematic and comprehensive investigations of electron transfers on the donor and acceptor sides of photosystem II (PSII) in the Deg1-reduced transgenic lines deg1-2 and deg1-4. Both the maximal quantum efficiency of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fm) and the actual PSII efficiency (ΦPSII) decreased significantly in the transgenic plants. Increases in nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) and the dissipated energy flux per reaction center (DI0/RC) were also shown in the transgenic plants. Along with the decreased D1, CP47, and CP43 content, these results suggested photoinhibition under growth light conditions in transgenic plants. Decreased Deg1 caused inhibition of electron transfer on the PSII reducing side, leading to a decline in the number of QB-reducing centers and accumulation of QB-nonreducing centers. The Tm of the Q band shifted from 5.7 °C in the wild-type plant to 10.4 °C and 14.2 °C in the deg1-2 and deg1-4 plants, respectively, indicating an increase in the stability of S2QA¯ in transgenic plants. PSIIα in the transgenic plants largely reduced, while PSIIβ and PSIIγ increased with the decline in the Deg1 levels in transgenic plants suggesting PSIIα centers gradually converted into PSIIβ and PSIIγ centers in the transgenic plants. Besides, the connectivity of PSIIα and PSIIβ was downregulated in transgenic plants. Our results reveal that downregulation of Deg1 protein levels induced photoinhibition in transgenic plants, leading to loss of PSII activities on both the donor and acceptor sides in transgenic plants. These results give a new insight into the regulation role of Deg1 in PSII electron transport.

Photosynthetic activity and RAPD profile of polyethylene glycol treated B. juncea L. under nitric oxide and abscisic acid application

The involvement of two extremely important signalling molecules, nitric oxide (NO) and abscisic acid (ABA) has been employed by plants to facilitate the adaptive/tolerate response during stressful conditions. However, the interactive role of exogenously applied NO and ABA is very less studied at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels. The present study therefore, evaluated the effects of individual and simultaneous addition of exogenous NO donor SNP (100μM) and ABA (10μM) on photosynthesis, Calvin-Benson cycle enzymes, S-assimilation enzymes, oxidative stress components, and genotoxicity in Brassica juncea cv. Varuna, exposed to polyethylene glycol (PEG)-induced drought stress. Results showed that a loss induced by PEG was significantly surpassed by the application of NO or/and ABA with PEG for chlorophyll content, net photosynthestic rate (Pn), internal CO2 concentration (Ci), stomatal conductance (gs), transpiration rate (Tr), maximum photosystem II (PSII) efficiency (Fv/Fm), actual PSII efficiency (ΦPSII), intrinsic PSII efficiency (Fv´/ Fm´), photochemical quenching (qP), non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), electron transport chain (ETC), ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCo), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GapDH), phosphoribulokinase (PRK), ATP-sulfurylase (ATP-S), and serine acetyltransferase (SAT) activities. The genomic template stability (GTS) (measured as changes in RAPD profiles) was significantly affected and showed varying degrees of DNA polymorphism, highest in PEG and lowest in PEG + NO and PEG + NO + ABA. Furthermore, the changes in RAPD profiles showed consistent results when compared with various photosynthetic and oxidative parameters. Altogether, this study concluded that supplementation of individual NO and together with ABA was more effective than individual ABA in alleviating PEG-induced drought stress in B. juncea L. seedlings.

Overexpression of Yeast Arabinono-1,4-Lactone Oxidase Gene (ALO) Increases Tolerance to Oxidative Stress and Al Toxicity in Transgenic Tobacco Plants

l-Ascorbic acid (AsA) is the most abundant antioxidant and a major redox buffer that regulates plant responses to environmental stresses. AsA is also a precursor of oxalate in plants, while oxalate is associated with aluminum (Al) tolerance in some plant species. To enhance AsA in plants and increase tolerance against oxidative stress and Al toxicity, the yeast d-arabinono-1,4-lactone oxidase (ALO) gene was overexpressed in transgenic tobacco plants. Overexpression of ALO promoted synthesis of AsA and oxalate in leaves, but did not affect oxalate level in roots. Compared to the wild type, transgenic plants maintained higher levels of AsA, glutathione, maximal photochemical efficiency (F v/F m) and the actual PSII efficiency (ΦPSII) of photosystem II (PSII), and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), and accumulated less H2O2 and malondialdehyde (MDA) in leaves in response to methyl viologen- and high-light-induced oxidative stress. In addition, transgenic plants showed higher AsA level and fresh weight of shoot and roots and lower levels of Al, H2O2, and MDA in root tips after Al treatment; however, there is no significant difference in organic acid (citrate and oxalate) exudation between the wild-type and transgenic plants in response to Al treatment. The results suggest that AsA and oxalate could be up-regulated by overexpressing ALO. The elevated AsA increased oxidative tolerance due to scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induction of NPQ in leaves and enhanced Al tolerance as an antioxidant for avoiding Al-triggered oxidative damages in roots.

Difference in photoinhibition and photoprotection between seedings and saplings leaves of Taxus cuspidata under high irradiance

The differences in chloroplast pigments, gas exchange and photosystemII (PSII) photochemistry as well as xanthophyll in seeding and sapling leaves of Taxus cuspidatagrown in full sunlight were examined. Compared with the sapling leaves, the chlorophyll content, photosynthetic capacity and light intensity for saturation of photosynthesis were lower in seeding leaves. The response curves of PSII photochemistry demonstrated that both seeding and sapling leaves occurred a down-regulation of PSII photochemistry at high irradiance, more serious down-regulation being examined in seeding leaves. And the down-regulation of PSII photochemistry occurred significantly when measured at midday, indicating that photoinhibition occurred heavily in seeding leaves when exposed to high light. The actual PSII efficiency (ΦPSII) and the efficiency of excitation capture by open PSII centers drastically decreased with the increase of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) at midday. The photorespiration rate in seeding leaves was lower than that in sapling leaves under high irradiance. The results indicated that the xanthophlly cycle was activated in both the seeding and sapling leaves at midday and an increase of de-epoxidation were observed, but a little higher level of de-epoxidation was measured in seeding leaves. The xanthophyll cycle may play an important role in the dissipation of excess light energy associated with NPQ to avoid photodamage. Our results suggested that photoinhibition occurred in seeding leaves significantly due to lower capacity of CO2assimilation, photorespiration and the light intensity for saturation of photosynthesis, as well as the lower PSII photochemistry at high irradiance; therefore the T. cuspidataseeding could not adapt to growing at high irradiance. Key words: Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata Sieb, et Zucc.), photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence.

English

  Exogenous sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a NO donor, was applied in this study to investigate the potential role of NO in photosynthetic performance of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L. cv. Hufan2560) seedlings under salt-stressed conditions. Exogenous NO alleviated the decrease in dry mass of shoot and root caused by salt stress. In parallel, NO application in salt-stressed plants attenuated the decrease in the photosynthetic parameters such as leaf chlorophyll, net photosynthetic rate (PN), stomatal conductance (gs), transpiration rate (E), the ratio of variable to maximum fluorescence (Fv/Fm), electron transport rate (ETR), the efficiency of excitation energy capture by open photosystem II (PSII) reaction centers (Fv´/Fm´), and the photochemical quenching coefficient (qP), and counteracted the increase in on-photochemical quenching coefficient (qN). Furthermore, the changes as mentioned above reversed by NO treatment are specific to salt stress since application of NO alone to tomato seedlings without salt stress had slight effects on the tested parameters. The results obtained here demonstrated that the photosynthetic performance was improved by NO application in salt-stressed plants and such an improvement was associated with an enhancement of gas-exchange and the actual PSII efficiency, which revealed an important role of NO in enhancing resistance of plants to salt stress.   Key words: Nitric oxide, photosynthesis, salt stress, Lycopersicon esculentum L., stomatal conductance, transpiration rate.

Partitioning of excitation energy in two wheat cultivars with different grain protein contents grown under three nitrogen applications in the field

Influences of different nitrogen applications on photosynthesis and utilization of excitation energy were explored by comparing two field‐grown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars with high or low grain protein content [High protein cultivar ‘8901’ (HC) and low protein cultivar ‘1391’ (LC)]. High nitrogen application significantly decreased both CO2 assimilation and photorespiration in both cultivars during the early stages after anthesis. However, the actual photosystem II (PSII) efficiency (ФPSII) was not significantly different between high, moderate and low nitrogen applications in the HC. As a result, the ratio of ФPSII to the quantum yield of carbon metabolism (ΦCO2) measured under non‐photorespiratory conditions in the HC was higher under high nitrogen application than under low or medium nitrogen application. The grain protein content of the HC was also increased by high nitrogen application. In contrast, high nitrogen application decreased the actual PSII efficiency in the flag leaves of the LC in the early stages after anthesis and different nitrogen applications did not significantly alter the ФPSII/ΦCO2 ratio or grain protein content in the LC. No significant difference was detected in the activity of superoxide dismutase or ascrobate peroxidase between different nitrogen treatments in either cultivar throughout the entire experimental period. These results indicate that more excitation energy is partitioned to nitrogen metabolism in the flag leaves of the HC under high nitrogen application whereas the partitioning of excitation energy in the LC was not affected by nitrogen application.

Enhanced thermotolerance of photosystem�II in salt-adapted plants of the halophyte Artemisia anethifolia

Thermotolerance of photosystem II (PSII) in leaves of salt-adapted Artemisia anethifolia L. plants (100-400 mM NaCl) was evaluated after exposure to heat stress (30-45 degrees C) for 30 min. After exposure to 30 degrees C, salt adaptation had no effects on the maximal efficiency of PSII photochemistry (F(v)/F(m)), the efficiency of excitation capture by open PSII centers (F(v)'/F(m)'), or the actual PSII efficiency (Phi(PSII)). After pretreatment at 40 degrees C, there was a striking difference in the responses of F(v)/F(m), F(v)'/F(m)' and Phi(PSII) to heat stress in non-salt-adapted and salt-adapted leaves. Leaves from salt-adapted plants maintained significantly higher values of F(v)/F(m), F(v)'/F(m)' and Phi(PSII) than those from non-salt-adapted leaves. The differences in F(v)/F(m), F(v)'/F(m)' and Phi(PSII) between non-salt-adapted and salt-adapted plants persisted for at least 12 h following heat stress. These results clearly show that thermotolerance of PSII was enhanced in salt-adapted plants. This enhanced thermotolerance was associated with an improvement in thermotolerance of the PSII reaction centers, the oxygen-evolving complexes and the light-harvesting complex. In addition, we observed that after exposure to 42.5 degrees C for 30 min, non-salt-adapted plants showed a significant decrease in CO(2) assimilation rate while in salt-adapted plants CO(2) assimilation rate was either maintained or even increased to some extent. Given that photosynthesis is considered to be the physiological process most sensitive to high-temperature damage and that PSII appears to be the most heat-sensitive part of the photosynthetic apparatus, enhanced thermotolerance of PSII may be of significance for A. anethifolia, a halophyte plant, which grows in the high-salinity regions in the north of China, where the air temperature in the summer is often as high as 45 degrees C.

Photosynthetic pigment composition and photosystem II photochemistry of wheat ears

The characteristics of pigment composition and photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry in the flag leaf and ear parts of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) grown in the field was compared. At the early stage of flowering, awns and the flag leaf showed the highest values in the maximal efficiency of PSII photochemistry ( F v/ F m), actual PSII efficiency (Φ PSII), photochemical quenching ( q P), and the efficiency of excitation capture by open PSII centres ( F ′ v / F ′ m ), followed by glumes, lemmas, and paleae, respectively except that no differences in F ′ v / F ′ m were observed among glumes, leamms, and paleae. With progressing grain filling, there was a change in the photosynthetic pigment stoichiometry. In the ear parts, neoxanthin and antheraxanthin decreased equally with chlorophyll levels. Lutein and zeaxanthin decreased less than chlorophyll levels while β-carotene and violaxanthin decreased faster than chlorophyll levels. No big differences in pigment composition were observed among different ear parts. For the flag leaf, neoxanthin and β-carotene decreased concomitantly with chlorophyll, whereas lutein and xanthophyll cycle pigment were less affected, leading to increases in lutein/chlorophyll and xanthophyll cycle pigment/chlorophyll ratios. F v/ F m, Φ PSII, q P, and F ′ v / F ′ m decreased gradually in the flag leaf and ear parts but to different extents. The largest changes were observed in awns, followed by the lemmas of floret 2, the lemmas of floret 1, glumes, and the flag leaf, respectively. The results suggest that during grain filling, a down-regulation of PSII associated with an increase of the de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle carotenoids occurred in the flag leaf but not in the ear parts.

PSII photochemistry, thermal energy dissipation, and the xanthophyll cycle in Kalanchoë daigremontiana exposed to a combination of water stress and high light

Kalanchoë daigremontiana, a CAM plant grown in a greenhouse, was subjected to severe water stress. The changes in photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry were investigated in water‐stressed leaves. To separate water stress effects from photoinhibition, water stress was imposed at low irradiance (daily peak PFD 150 μmol m−2 s−1). There were no significant changes in the maximal efficiency of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fm), the traditional fluorescence induction kinetics (OIP) and the polyphasic fluorescence induction kinetics (OJIP), suggesting that water stress had no direct effects on the primary PSII photochemistry in dark‐adapted leaves. However, PSII photochemistry in light‐adapted leaves was modified in water‐stressed plants. This was shown by the decrease in the actual PSII efficiency (ΦPSII), the efficiency of excitation energy capture by open PSII centres (Fv′/Fm′), and photochemical quenching (qP), as well as a significant increase in non‐photochemical quenching (NPQ) in particular at high PFDs. In addition, photoinhibition and the xanthophyll cycle were investigated in water‐stressed leaves when exposed to 50% full sunlight and full sunlight. At midday, water stress induced a substantial decrease in Fv/Fm which was reversible. Such a decrease was greater at higher irradiance. Similar results were observed in ΦPSII, qP, and Fv′/Fm′. On the other hand, water stress induced a significant increase in NPQ and the level of zeaxanthin via the de‐epoxidation of violaxanthin and their increases were greater at higher irradiance. The results suggest that water stress led to increased susceptibility to photoinhibition which was attributed to a photoprotective process but not to a photodamage process. Such a photoprotection was associated with the enhanced formation of zeaxanthin via de‐epoxidation of violaxanthin. The results also suggest that thermal dissipation of excess energy associated with the xanthophyll cycle may be an important adaptive mechanism to help protect the photosynthetic apparatus from photoinhibitory damage for CAM plants normally growing in arid and semi‐arid areas where they are subjected to a combination of water stress and high light.

Photosystem II photochemistry and photosynthetic pigment composition in salt-adapted halophyte Artimisia anethifolia grown under outdoor conditions

The effects of high salinity (0-400 mmol/L NaCl) on photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry and photosynthetic pigment composition were investigated in the halophyte Artimisia anethifolia grown under outdoor conditions and exposed to full sunlight. High salinity resulted in an inhibition in plant growth and a significant accumulation of sodium and chloride in leaves. However, high salinity induced no effects on the actual PSII efficiency, the efficiency of excitation energy capture by open PSII reaction centres, photochemical quenching, and non-photochemical quenching at midday. High salinity also induced neither changes in the maximum efficiency of PSII photochemistry, the efficiency with which a trapped exciton can move an electron into the electron transport chain further than QA and the quantum yield of electron transport beyond QA, nor changes in absorption, trapping and electron transport fluxes per PSII reaction centre. No significant changes were observed in the levels of neoxanthin, lutein, beta-carotene, violaxanthin, antheraxanthin, and zeaxanthin expressed on a total chlorophyll basis in salt-adapted plants. Our results suggest that Artimisia anethifolia showed high resistance not only to high salinity, but also to photoinhibition even if it was treated with high salinity as high as 400 mmol/L NaCl and exposed to full sunlight. The results indicate that tolerance of PSII to high salinity and photoinhibition can be viewed as an important strategy for Artimisia anethifolia, a halophyte plant, to grow in very high saline soil.

Characterization of photosynthetic pigment composition, photosystem II photochemistry and thermal energy dissipation during leaf senescence of wheat plants grown in the field.

Photosynthetic pigment composition and photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry were characterized during the flag leaf senescence of wheat plants grown in the field. During leaf senescence, neoxanthin and beta-carotene decreased concomitantly with chlorophyll, whereas lutein and xanthophyll cycle pigments were less affected, leading to increases in lutein/chlorophyll and xanthophyll cycle pigments/chlorophyll ratios. The chlorophyll a/b ratio also increased. With the progression of senescence, the maximal efficiency of PSII photochemistry decreased only slightly in the early morning (low light conditions), but substantially at midday (high light conditions). Actual PSII efficiency, photochemical quenching and the efficiency of excitation capture by open PSII centres decreased significantly both early in the morning and at midday and such decreases were much greater at midday than in the early morning. At the same time, non-photochemical quenching, zeaxanthin and antheraxanthin contents at the expense of violaxanthin increased both early in the morning and at midday, with a greater increase at midday. The results in the present study suggest that a down-regulation of PSII occurred in senescent leaves and that the xanthophyll cycle plays a role in the protection of PSII from photoinhibitory damage in senescent leaves by dissipating excess excitation energy, particularly when exposed to high light.

Characterization of photosynthetic pigment composition, photosystem II photochemistry and thermal energy dissipation during leaf senescence of wheat plants grown in the field

Photosynthesis, photosynthetic pigment composition and photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry during leaf senescence of wheat plants grown in the field were characterized. During leaf senescence, neoxanthin and b -carotene decreased concomitantly with chlorophyll, whereas lutein and xanthophyll cycle pigments were less affected, leading to increases in lutein/chlorophyll and xanthophyll cycle pigments/chlorophyll ratios. The chlorophyll a/b ratio also increased. With the progressing of senescence, maximal efficiency of PSII photochemstry decreased only slightly in the early morning but substantially at midday. Actual PSII efficiency, photochemical quenching, efficiency of excitation capture by open PSII centers, and the I-P phase of fluorescence induction curves decreased significantly both in the early morning and at midday and such decreases were much greater at midday than early in the morning, while the O-I phase of fluorescence induction curves remained unchanged. At the same time, non-photochemical quenching, thermal dissipation and de-epoxidation status of the xanthophyll cycle increased both early in the morning and at midday, with a greater increase at midday. Such increases indicated that the xanthophyll cycle played a role in photoprotection of PSII in senescent leaves by dissipating excess excitation energy and that D pH could be the main factor controlling thermal dissipation. Taking into consideration the substantial loss of photosynthetic capacity during senescence, our data seem to support the view that the decrease in actual PSII efficiency in senescent leaves may represent a mechanism to down-regulate photosynthetic electron transport to match the decreased CO2 assimilation capacity and avoid photodamage of PSII from excess excitation energy.

Xanthophyll cycle, light energy dissipation and photosystem II down-regulation in senescent leaves of wheat plants grown in the field

Photosynthesis, the xanthophyll cycle, light energy dissipation and down-regulation of photosystem II (PSII) in senescent leaves of wheat plants grown in the field were investigated. With the progress of senescence, maximal efficiency of PSII photochemistry decreased only slightly early in the morning but substantially at midday. Actual PSII efficiency, photochemical quenching, efficiency of excitation capture by open PSII centres, and the I–P phase of fluorescence induction curves decreased significantly and such decreases were much more evident at midday than in the morning. At the same time, non-photochemical quenching, thermal dissipation and de-epoxidation status of the xanthophyll cycle increased, with much greater increases at midday than in the morning. These results suggest that the xanthophyll cycle played a role in photoprotection of PSII in senescent leaves by dissipating excess excitation energy. Taking into account the substantial decrease in photosynthetic capacity in senescent leaves, our data seem to support the view that the decrease in actual PSII efficiency in senescent leaves may represent a mechanism to down-regulate photosynthetic electron transport to match the decreased CO2 assimilation capacity and avoid photodamage of PSII from excess excitation energy.

Light Absorption and Partitioning in Relation to Nitrogen Content in `Fuji' Apple Leaves

Bench-grafted `Fuji' apple [Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. var. domestica (Borkh.) Mansf.] trees on Malling 26 (M.26) rootstocks were fertigated for 6 weeks with N concentrations ranging from 0 to 20 mm. These treatments produced levels of leaf N ranging from 0.9 to 4.3 g·m-2. Over this range, leaf absorptance increased curvilinearly from 74.8% to 92.5%. The light saturation point for CO2 assimilation expressed on the basis of absorbed light increased linearly at first with increasing leaf N, then reached a plateau at a leaf N content of ≈3 g·m-2. Under high light conditions (photosynthetic photon flux of 1500 μmol·m-2·s-1), the amount of absorbed light in excess of that required to saturate CO2 assimilation decreased with increasing leaf N. Chlorophyll fluorescence measurements revealed that the maximum photosystem II (PSII) efficiency of dark-adapted leaves was relatively constant over the leaf N range, except for a slight decrease at the lower end. As leaf N increased, nonphotochemical quenching declined under high light, and there was an increase in the efficiency with which the absorbed photons were delivered to open PSII centers. The photochemical quenching coefficient remained high except for a decrease at the lower end of the leaf N range. Actual PSII efficiency increased curvilinearly with increasing leaf N, and was highly correlated with light-saturated CO2 assimilation. The fraction of absorbed light potentially going into singlet oxygen formation was estimated to be ≈10%, regardless of leaf N status. It was concluded that there was more excess absorbed light in low N leaves than in high N leaves under high light conditions. Nonphotochemical quenching was enhanced with decreasing leaf N to reduce both the PSII efficiency and the probability of damage from photooxidation by excess absorbed light.

159 The Relationship between Actual Photosystem II Efficiency and Quantum Yield for CO2 Assimilation is Not Affected by Nitrogen Content in Apple Leaves

Bench-grafted Fuji/M26 apple (Malus domestica Borkh) trees were fertigated with different concentrations of nitrogen by using a modified Hoagland's solution for 45 days. CO2 assimilation and actual photosystem II (PSII) efficiency in response to incident photon flux density (PFD) were measured simultaneously in recent fully expanded leaves under low O2 (2%) and saturated CO2 (1300 ppm) conditions. A single curvilinear relationship was found between true quantum yield for CO2 assimilation and actual PSII efficiency for leaves with a wide range of leaf N content. The relationship was linear up to a quantum yield of approximately 0.05 mol CO2/mol quanta, then became curvilinear with a further rise in quantum yield in response to decreasing PFD. This relationship was subsequently used as a calibration curve to assess the rate of linear electron transport associated with rubisco and partitioning of electron flow between CO2 assimilation and photorespiration in different N leaves in response to intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) under normal O2 conditions. Both the rate of linear electron flow, and the rate to CO2 or O2 increased with increasing leaf N at any given Ci, but the percentage of linear electron flow to CO2 assimilation remained the same regardless of leaf N content. As Ci increased, the percentage of linear electron flow to CO2 assimilation increased. In conclusion, the relationship between actual PSII efficiency and quantum yield for CO2 assimilation and the partitioning of electron flow between CO2 assimilation and photorespiration are not affected by N content in apple leaves.

Light Absorption and Partitioning in Response to Nitrogen in Apple Leaves

Bench-grafted Fuji/M26 apple trees were fertigated with different concentrations of nitrogen by using a modified Hoagland solution for 6 weeks, resulting in a range of leaf N from 1.0 to 4.3 g·m–2. Over this range, leaf absorptance increased curvilinearly from 75% to 92.5%. Under high light conditions (1500 (mol·m–2·s–1), the amount of absorbed light in excess of that required to saturate CO2 assimilation decreased with increasing leaf N. Chlorophyll fluorescence measurements revealed that the maximum photosystem II (PSII) efficiency of dark-adapted leaves was relatively constant over the leaf N range except for a slight drop at the lower end. As leaf N increased, non-photochemical quenching under high light declined and there was a corresponding increase in the efficiency with which the absorbed photons were delivered to open PSII centers. Photochemical quenching coefficient decreased significantly at the lower end of the leaf N range. Actual PSII efficiency increased curvilinearly with increasing leaf N, and was highly correlated with light-saturated CO2 assimilation. The fraction of absorbed light potentially used for free radical formation was estimated to be about 10% regardless of the leaf N status. It was concluded that increased thermal dissipation protected leaves from photo-oxidation as leaf N declined.

Photosynthesis, quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence and thermal energy dissipation in iron-deficient sugar beet leaves

In sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) iron deficiency decreased not only the photosynthetic rate but also the actual photosystem II efficiency at steady-state photosynthesis. In moderate iron deficiency, the decrease in actual photosystem II efficiency under illumination was related to closure of photosystem II reaction centers, whereas in severe iron deficiency it was associated to decreases of intrinsic photosystem II efficiency. The O2 evolution, on an absorbed light basis, decreased more than the actual photosystem II efficiency, suggesting the presence of a significant fraction of electron transport to molecular oxygen or the existence of some form of cyclic electron flow. Iron-deficient leaves reduced the excess of light absorbed that cannot be used in photosynthesis not only by decreasing absorptance, but also by dissipating a large part of the light absorbed by the photosystem II antenna. This mechanism, that protects the photosystem II reaction centers through the enhancement of energy dissipation, was related to the de-epoxidation of violaxanthin (V) to antheraxanthin (A) and zeaxanthin (Z) in iron-deficient leaves. These data provide additional support for a role of Z+A in photoprotection under conditions of excess photosynthetic light absorption.