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Photosynthesis studies on European evergreen and deciduous oaks grown under Central European climate conditions: II. Photoinhibitory and light-independent violaxanthin deepoxidation and downregulation of photosystem II in evergreen, winter-acclimated European Quercus taxa

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Abstract

In the context of the search for future forestry species in Central Europe under climate change scenarios, the evergreen Mediterranean Quercus taxa Q. ilex ssp. ilex and Q. suber and the semideciduous hybrids. Q. × turneri and Q. × hispanica were studied in relation to their photochemical efficiency of photosystem II and to the activity of the xanthophyll cycle under Central European winter conditions. The evergreen taxa were remarkably insensitive to winter stress in the field and reacted towards frost periods with the phenomenon of “chronic photoinhibition”, i.e. a decrease in pre-dawn F v/F m and an increase in the deepoxidation state of the xanthophylls. Under dark and warmer conditions (room temperature), winter-acclimated leaves of the evergreen taxa except for Q. × turneri produced zea- and antheraxanthin and decreased F v/F m, possibly by creation of a chlororespiratory pH-gradient. It is suggested that the ability for dark violaxanthin deepoxidation may contribute to the winter hardiness of the evergreen taxa.

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Abbreviations

A:

Antheraxanthin

F o :

Ground fluorescence of photosystem II in the dark-adapted state

F v :

Variable chlorophyll fluorescence of photosystem II in the dark-adapted state (=F m − F o)

F m :

Maximum chlorophyll fluorescence of photosystem II in the dark-adapted state

PS II:

Photosystem II

ROS:

Reactive-oxygen species

RT:

Room temperature (i.e. ca. 23–25°C)

V:

Violaxanthin

VD:

V deepoxidase

Z:

Zeaxanthin

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to the Palmengarten of the City of Frankfurt (Dr. C. Bayer) for giving access to the hybrid specimens and to Mrs. R. Caps and U. Feickert for excellent technical assistance with the HPLC analysis. The present study was in part financially supported by the research funding programme “LOEWE-Landes-Offensive zur Entwicklung Wissenschaftlich-ökonomischer Exzellenz” of Hesse′s Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts through the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biosciences, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

    Wolfgang Brüggemann, Michael Bergmann, Kai-Uwe Nierbauer, Ellen Pflug, Carlo Schmidt & Daniel Weber

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  1. Wolfgang Brüggemann
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  2. Michael Bergmann
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  3. Kai-Uwe Nierbauer
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  4. Ellen Pflug
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  5. Carlo Schmidt
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  6. Daniel Weber
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Correspondence to Wolfgang Brüggemann.

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Communicated by W. Bilger.

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Brüggemann, W., Bergmann, M., Nierbauer, KU. et al. Photosynthesis studies on European evergreen and deciduous oaks grown under Central European climate conditions: II. Photoinhibitory and light-independent violaxanthin deepoxidation and downregulation of photosystem II in evergreen, winter-acclimated European Quercus taxa. Trees 23, 1091–1100 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-009-0351-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-009-0351-y

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