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Calcium chloride improves photosynthesis and water status in the C4 succulent xerophyte Haloxylon ammodendron under water deficit

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Abstract

Our results showed that in addition to sodium (Na+), succulent xerophyte Haloxylon ammodendron was more inclined to absorb and accumulate large amount of calcium (Ca2+) than potassium (K+) as an important osmotica for osmotic adjustment (OA) under arid environments. To further reveal the possible physiological mechanisms of Ca2+ accumulation involved in drought resistance of H. ammodendron, 8-week-old plants were treated with a series concentration of external Ca2+ (calcium chloride, 1 × 10−4 to 8 × 10−4 g CaCl2 g−1 dry soil) by potted sandy soil culture experiments in field. Plants were also subjected to water deficit (30% of field water capacity) in the presence or absence of Ca2+ (4 × 10−4 g CaCl2 g−1dry soil) by potted sand culture experiments in greenhouse. The results showed that 4 × 10−4 g CaCl2 g−1 soil resulted in optimal plant growth and effectively mitigated harmful impacts of water deficit on the growth of H. ammodendron, by inducing a significant drop in PB water potential and, concomitantly, increasing PB turgor pressure and chlorophyll concentration resulting in an enhancement of overall plant photosynthetic activity. Furthermore, 4 × 10−4 g CaCl2 g−1 soil had no effects on the photosystem II photochemistry, but mitigated the inhibitory effect of water deficit on the activity of photosystem II in H. ammodendron. The contribution of Ca2+ to the total osmotic potential varied from 6.2% in the control to 11.4% in plants subjected to water deficit and, surprisingly, to 21.6% in plants grown in the presence of 4 × 10−4 g CaCl2 g−1 soil under water deficit; however, the contribution of K+ significantly decreased from 12.1 to 7.0%. These findings suggest that, under arid environments, H. ammodendron is able to accumulate high concentration of Ca2+ in its PB and use it directly for OA, which was coupled with an improvement in PB hydration and photosynthetic activity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Key Project of Chinese National Programs (973 Program) for Fundamental Research and Development (Grant No. 2013CB429903) and the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. Y511601001, 31360086). The authors are very grateful to the anonymous reviewers as well as editors for their critical review and comments which helped to improve and clarify the manuscript.

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  1. Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Key Laboratory of Inland River Basin Ecohydrology, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China

    Jianjun Kang, Wenzhi Zhao, Ying Zheng, Dong Mei Zhang, Hong Zhou & Pengcheng Sun

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  1. Jianjun Kang
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  2. Wenzhi Zhao
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Correspondence to Wenzhi Zhao.

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Kang, J., Zhao, W., Zheng, Y. et al. Calcium chloride improves photosynthesis and water status in the C4 succulent xerophyte Haloxylon ammodendron under water deficit. Plant Growth Regul 82, 467–478 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-017-0273-4

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