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Changes in morphological, photosynthetic and physiological responses of Mono Maple seedlings to enhanced UV-B and to nitrogen addition

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Abstract

In the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China, Mono Maple is a common species in reforestation processes. The paper mainly investigated the changes in morphological, photosynthetic and physiological responses of Mono Maple seedlings to UV-B radiation, nitrogen supply and their combination. The experimental design included two levels of UV-B treatments (ambient UV-B, 11.02 KJ m−2 day−1; enhanced UV-B, 14.33 KJ m−2 day−1) and two nitrogen levels (0; 20 g N m−2 a−1)—to determine whether the adverse effects of UV-B on plants are eased by nitrogen supply. Enhanced UV-B caused a marked decline in growth parameters, net photosynthetic rate, and photosynthetic pigments, whereas it induced an increase in reaction oxygen species (hydrogen peroxide accumulation and the rate of superoxide radical production) and malondialdehyde content. Enhance UV-B also induced an increase in antioxidant compounds of Mono Maple, such as UV-B absorbing compounds, proline content, and activities of antioxidant enzymes (peroxidase, superoxide dimutase and catalase). On the other hand, nitrogen supply caused an increase in some growth parameters, net photosynthetic rate, photosynthetic pigments and antioxidant compounds (peroxidase, proline content and UV-B absorbing compounds), and reduced the content of reaction oxygen species (H2O2 accumulation, the rate of O − 2 production) and malondialdehyde content under ambient UV-B. However, under enhanced UV-B, nitrogen supply inhibited some growth parameters, and increased H2O2 accumulation, the rate of O − 2 production and MDA content, though proline content, UV-B absorbing compounds and activities of POD and SOD increased. These results implied that enhanced UV-B brought harmful effects on Mono Maple seedlings and nitrogen supply made plants more sensitive to enhanced UV-B, though increased some antioxidant activity.

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Abbreviations

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

CAT:

Catalase

GR:

Glutathione redutase

H2O2 :

Hydrogen peroxide

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

O −2 :

Superoxide radical

POD:

Peroxidase

ROS:

Reaction oxygen species

SOD:

Superoxide dimutase

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Acknowledgements

During this work the senior author was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30530630), the Talent Plan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and “Knowledge Innovation Engineering” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 416, Chengdu, 610041, People’s Republic China

    Xiaoqin Yao & Qing Liu

  2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, People’s Republic China

    Xiaoqin Yao

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  1. Xiaoqin Yao
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  2. Qing Liu
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Correspondence to Qing Liu.

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Yao, X., Liu, Q. Changes in morphological, photosynthetic and physiological responses of Mono Maple seedlings to enhanced UV-B and to nitrogen addition. Plant Growth Regul 50, 165–177 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-006-9116-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-006-9116-4

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