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Morphological, physiological, and biochemical responses of Populus euphratica to soil flooding

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Photosynthetica

Abstract

The riparian forests along the Tarim River, habitats for Populus euphratica establishment, are subjected to frequent flooding. To elucidate adaptive strategies that enable this species to occupy the riparian ecosystem subjected to seasonal or permanent water-logging, we examined functional characteristics of plant growth, xylem water relations, leaf gas exchange, chlorophyll (Chl) content and fluorescence, soluble sugar and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in P. euphratica seedlings flooded for 50 d. Although flooded seedlings kept absorbing carbon throughout the experiment, their shoot and root growth rates were lower than in non-flooded seedlings. The reduced leaf gas exchange and quantum efficiency of PSII of flooded seedlings resulted possibly from the reduction in total Chl content. Content of soluble sugar and malondialdehyde in leaves were higher in flooded than in control seedlings. Soil flooding induced hypertrophy of lenticels and increased a stem diameter. These responses were responsible for species survival as well as its success in this seasonally flooded riparian zone. Our results indicate that P. euphratica is relatively flood-tolerant due to a combination of morphological, physiological, and biochemical adjustments, which may support its dominance in the Tarim riparian forest.

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Abbreviations

C i :

intercellular CO2 concentration

Chl:

chlorophyll

E :

transpiration rate

Fm :

maximal fluorescence in dark adapted state

Fm′:

maximal fluorescence in light-adapted state

Fs :

steady-state fluorescence yield

Fv/Fm :

maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

Fv′/Fm′:

energy harvesting efficiency of PSII

F0 :

minimal fluorescence in dark-adapted state

F0′:

minimal fluorescence in light-adapted state

FM:

fresh mass

g s :

stomatal conductance

MDA:

malondialdehyde

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

qP :

photochemical quenching coefficient

ΦPSII :

effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

Ψmd :

midday xylem water potential

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    B. Yu, C. Y. Zhao, J. Li, J. Y. Li & G. Peng

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    B. Yu, J. Y. Li & G. Peng

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  1. B. Yu
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  2. C. Y. Zhao
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  3. J. Li
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  4. J. Y. Li
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  5. G. Peng
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Correspondence to C. Y. Zhao.

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Acknowledgements: This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (41171095, 41101100, and 41171037), the National Project (No. 2013BAC10B01) of China.

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Yu, B., Zhao, C.Y., Li, J. et al. Morphological, physiological, and biochemical responses of Populus euphratica to soil flooding. Photosynthetica 53, 110–117 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0088-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0088-3

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