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Combined effects of elevated CO2 concentration and drought stress on photosynthetic performance and leaf structure of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings

  • Published:
Photosynthetica

Abstract

Drought stress is one of the main environmental factors limiting plant growth and productivity of many crops. Elevated carbon dioxide concentration (eCO2) can ameliorate, mitigate, or compensate for the negative impact of drought on plant growth and enable plants to remain turgid and functional for a longer period. In order to investigate the combined effects of eCO2 and drought stress on photosynthetic performance and leaf structures, we analyzed photosynthetic characteristics and structure and ultrastructure of cucumber leaves. The decline in net photosynthetic rate under moderate drought stress occurred due to stomatal limitation alone, while under severe drought stress, it was the result of stomatal and nonstomatal limitations. Conversely, eCO2 improved photosynthetic performance under moderate drought stress, increased the lengths of the palisade cells and the number of chloroplasts per palisade cell under severe drought stress, and significantly increased the grana thickness under moderate drought stress. Additionally, eCO2 significantly decreased stomatal density, stomatal widths and stomatal aperture on the abaxial surface of leaves under moderate drought stress. In conclusion, eCO2 can alleviate the negative effects of drought stress by improving the drought resistance of cucumber seedlings through stomatal modifications and leaf structure.

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Abbreviations

aCO2 :

ambient [CO2]

C:

control nutrient solution

C i :

intercellular CO2 concentration

[CO2]:

CO2 concentration

E :

transpiration rate

eCO2 :

elevated [CO2]

gs:

stomatal conductance

J max :

PAR-saturated rate of electron transport

M:

moderate drought stress

Narea :

area-based leaf nitrogen concentration

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

PBS:

phosphate buffer saline

P Nmax :

CO2 assimilation maximum rate

S:

severe drought stress

TPU:

rate of triose phosphate utilization

V cmax :

maximum rate of carboxylation by Rubisco

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Tai’an, Shandong, 271018, China

    B. B. Liu, Q. M. Li, X. Z. Ai & H. G. Bi

  2. College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong, 271018, China

    M. Li, Q. M. Li, Q. Q. Cui, W. D. Zhang, X. Z. Ai & H. G. Bi

  3. Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Environment Controlled Agricultural Engineering in Huang-Huai-Hai Region, Ministry of Agriculture, Tai’an, Shandong, 271018, China

    Q. M. Li

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  1. B. B. Liu
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Correspondence to Q. M. Li.

Additional information

Acknowledgments: This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31471918), Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2013CM008), Colleges and Universities in Shandong Province Science and Technology Projects (J14LF06), and Major Application Technology Innovation Project of Shandong Province. We are very grateful to Berkley J. Walker (Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, USA) for helping us to revise our manuscript. We are grateful to the reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Electronic supplementary material

11099_2017_753_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Fig. 1S. Dynamics of air temperature, relative humidity light intensity in the Open-Top-Greenhouses during treatments. The averages [CO2] in elevated and ambient CO2 greenhouses were 400 μmol mol-1 and 800 μmol mol-1, respectively.

11099_2017_753_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Fig. 2S. Effects of drought stresses and elevated CO2 on the parameters of photosynthetic gas exchange in cucumber seedlings. Air temperature, relative humidity, [CO2], and PAR were 27.5 and 28.6 °C, 47.1 and 43.4%, 795 and 398 μmol mol-1, and 672 and 687 μmol(photon) m-2 s-1 in the elevated CO2 and ambient CO2 greenhouses, respectively. Bars represent least squared mean values ± SD (n = 6) for treatments. Different lowercase letters were statistically different at the P < 0.05 level. (A) Photosynthetic rate (PN); (B) transpiration rate (E); (C) intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci); and (D) stomatal conductance (gs).

11099_2017_753_MOESM3_ESM.pdf

Fig. 3S. Effects of drought stresses and eCO2 on adaxial surface of cucumber seedling leaves. A, B, C, D, E, and F represent EC, AC, EM, AM, ES and AS treatments, where A represents aCO2, E represents eCO2, and C, M, and S represent control, medium and severe drought stresses, respectively. St: stomata; Me: mesophyll cell. 1,000 ×, scale bars = 10 μm.

Fig. 4S. Effect of drought stress and elevated CO2 on leaf area.

Fig. 5S. Effect of drought stress and elevated CO2 on PN/Ci curve.

Fig. 6S. Effect of drought stress and elevated CO2 on starch content.

11099_2017_753_MOESM7_ESM.pdf

Table 1S. Effects of drought stress and elevated CO2 concentration on mesophyll cell sizes in cucumber seedling leaf cells. A — ambient CO2 concentration; E — elevated CO2 concentration; C — control; M — medium drought stress; S — severe drought stress.

11099_2017_753_MOESM8_ESM.pdf

Table 2S. Effects of drought stresses and elevated CO2 concentration on chloroplast and starch grain sizes in cucumber seedling leaf cells. A — ambient CO2 concentration; E — elevated CO2 concentration; C — control; M — medium drought stress; S — severe drought stress.

11099_2017_753_MOESM9_ESM.pdf

Table 3S. Effects of drought stress and elevated CO2 concentration on grana thickness and lamella numbers in cucumber seedling leaf cells. A — ambient CO2 concentration; E — elevated CO2 concentration; C — control; M — medium drought stress; S — severe drought stress.

Fig. 1S. Daily precipitation and mean temperature at the study sites in 2011.

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Liu, B.B., Li, M., Li, Q.M. et al. Combined effects of elevated CO2 concentration and drought stress on photosynthetic performance and leaf structure of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings. Photosynthetica 56, 942–952 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-017-0753-9

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