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Leaf developmental stage modulates metabolite accumulation and photosynthesis contributing to acclimation of Arabidopsis thaliana to water deficit

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Abstract

We examined whether young and mature leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana in their response to mild water deficit (MiWD) and moderate water deficit (MoWD), behave differentially, and whether photosynthetic acclimation to water deficit correlates with increased proline and sugar accumulation. We observed that with increasing water deficit, leaf relative water content decreased, while proline and sugar accumulation increased in both leaf-developmental stages. Under both MiWD and MoWD, young leaves showed less water loss and accumulated higher level of metabolites compared to mature leaves. This, leaf age-related increase in metabolite accumulation that was significantly higher under MoWD, allowed young leaves to cope with oxidative damage by maintaining their base levels of lipid peroxidation. Thus, acclimation of young leaves to MoWD, involves a better homeostasis of reactive oxygen species (ROS), that was achieved among others by (1) increased sugar accumulation and (2) either increased proline synthesis and/or decreased proline catabolism, that decrease the NADPH/NADP+ ratio, resulting in a higher level of oxidized state of quinone A and thus in a reduced excitation pressure, and by (3) stimulation of the photoprotective mechanism of non-photochemical quenching, that reflects the dissipation of excess excitation energy in the form of harmless heat, thus protecting the plant from the damaging effects of ROS.

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Abbreviations

ETR:

Electron transport rate

F v/F m :

Potential (maximum) quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

LWC:

Leaf relative water content

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

MiWD:

Mild water deficit

MoWD:

Moderate water deficit

NPQ:

Non-photochemical quenching

PSI, PSII:

Photosystem I, Photosystem II

PPFD:

Photosynthetic photon flux density

QA :

Quinone A

q p :

Photochemical quenching

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SE:

Standard error

SWC:

Soil volumetric water content

Φ PSII :

Actual (effective) quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Prof. Dr. Stefanos Sgardelis (Department of Ecology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) for the help in statistical analysis. This work was supported by the European Fund of Regional Growth and the Hellenic General Secretariat for Research and Technology under the project No. 09FR47 to Michael Moustakas.

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  1. Department of Botany, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Ilektra Sperdouli & Michael Moustakas

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  1. Ilektra Sperdouli
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Correspondence to Michael Moustakas.

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Sperdouli, I., Moustakas, M. Leaf developmental stage modulates metabolite accumulation and photosynthesis contributing to acclimation of Arabidopsis thaliana to water deficit. J Plant Res 127, 481–489 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-014-0635-1

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