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Effect of drought stress on the photosynthesis of Acacia tortilis subsp. raddiana at the young seedling stage

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Photosynthetica

Abstract

Water stress usually impairs photosynthesis and plant growth. Acacia tortilis subsp. raddiana is well adapted to dry environments. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of a progressive decrease in soil water content on photosynthetic-related parameters at the young seedling stage. Drought-induced plant responses occurred according to two types of kinetics. Water potential, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rates were rapidly affected by a decrease in soil water content, while chlorophyll fluorescence-related parameters and chlorophyll concentrations decreased only when soil water content was lower than 40%. The maximal efficiency of PSII photochemistry in the dark-adapted state remained unaffected by the treatment, whatever the stress duration. A. raddiana accumulated high concentrations of soluble sugars in relation to a stress-induced early stimulation of sucrose-phosphate synthase activity, while stimulation of invertase and sucrose synthase led to fructose accumulation only at the end of the stress period. We suggested that sugar accumulation may be involved in osmotic adjustment and protection of stressed tissues. A. raddiana was thus able to protect its photosynthetic machinery under drought conditions and may be considered as a promising species for revegetation of dry areas.

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Abbreviations

Chl:

chlorophyll

DM:

dry mass

E :

instantaneous transpiration

ED:

density of epidermal pavement cells

ETR:

electron transfer rate

F0 :

the minimal fluorescence in the dark-adapted state

Fm :

the maximal fluorescence in the dark-adapted state

FM:

fresh mass

g s :

stomatal conductance

LA:

leaf area

NPQ:

nonphotochemical quenching

P N :

net photosynthesis

qP :

photochemical quenching

RWC:

relative water content

SD:

stomatal density

SI:

stomatal index

SLA:

specific leaf area

SPS:

sucrose-phosphate-synthase

SuSy:

sucrose synthase

SWC:

soil water content

WUE:

water-use efficiency

ΨW :

shoot water potential

ΨS :

shoot osmotic potential

ΦPSII :

actual PSII efficiency

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université Blida 1, BP 270, route de Soumaa, 09100, Blida, Algeria

    S. Kebbas

  2. Groupe de Recherche en Physiologie Végétale, Earth and Life Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, 5 Place Croix du Sud, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    S. Kebbas & S. Lutts

  3. Equipe de Physiologie Végétale, LBPO, FSB, Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari Boumediene, BP 32 El Alia, 16111, Bab Ezzouar-Algiers, Algeria

    S. Kebbas & F. Aid

Authors
  1. S. Kebbas
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  2. S. Lutts
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  3. F. Aid
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Lutts.

Additional information

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by Wallonie-Bruxelles International (Project de Coopération 2 — axe 4) and by the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (No. 1.5117.11 and 1.5114.11). The authors are very grateful to Dr. Isabelle Lefèvre for valuable help in sugar analysis, to Béatrice Lambillotte, and Brigitte Van Pee for technical assistance, and to Université Catholique de Louvain (Secrétariat à la Cooperation) for the PhD grant of S. Kebbas. This manuscript is dedicated to the memory of Dr N.E. Noureddine (Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari Boumediene, Alger).

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Kebbas, S., Lutts, S. & Aid, F. Effect of drought stress on the photosynthesis of Acacia tortilis subsp. raddiana at the young seedling stage. Photosynthetica 53, 288–298 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0113-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0113-6

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