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Responses of the resurrection plant Haberlea rhodopensis to high irradiance

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Photosynthetica

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Abstract

The effect of high irradiance (HI) during desiccation and subsequent rehydration of the homoiochlorophyllous desiccation-tolerant shade plant Haberlea rhodopensis was investigated. Plants were irradiated with a high quantum fluence rate (HI; 350 µmol m−2 s−1 compared to ca. 30 µmol m−2 s−1 at the natural rock habitat below trees) and subjected either to fast desiccation (tufts dehydrated with naturally occurring thin soil layers) or slow desiccation (tufts planted in pots in peat-soil dehydrated by withholding irrigation). Leaf water content was 5 % of the control after 4 d of fast and 19 d of slow desiccation. Haberlea was very sensitive to HI under all conditions. After 19 d at HI, even in well-watered plants there was a strong reduction of rates of net photosynthesis and transpiration, contents of chlorophyll (Chl) and carotenoids, as well as photosystem 2 activity (detected by the Chl fluorescence ratio RFd). Simultaneously, the blue/red and green/red fluorescence ratios increased considerably suggesting increased synthesis of polyphenolic compounds. Desiccation of plants in HI induced irreversible changes in the photosynthetic apparatus and leaves did not recover after rehydration regardless of fast or slow desiccation. Only young leaves survived desiccation.

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Abbreviations

Chl:

chlorophyll

CWL:

central wavelength

DM:

dry mass

FD:

fast desiccation

BF690:

fluorescence at 690 nm excited with blue radiation

UVF440, UVF550, UVF690:

fluorescence at 440, 550 and 690 nm, respectively, excited with ultraviolet radiation

FWHM:

full width-half maximum

HI:

high irradiance

PAR:

photosynthetically active radiation

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

PS2:

photosystem 2

RFd690:

ratio of fluorescence decrease determined at 690 nm

SD:

slow desiccation

UV:

ultraviolet

WUE:

water use efficiency

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Physiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev Str., Bl. 21, BG-1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

    K. Georgieva

  2. Botanisches Institut II (Molekularbiologie und Biochemie der Pflanzen), Universität Karlsruhe, Kaiserstrasse 12, D-76128, Karlsruhe, Germany

    S. Lenk & C. Buschmann

Authors
  1. K. Georgieva
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  2. S. Lenk
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  3. C. Buschmann
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Correspondence to K. Georgieva.

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Georgieva, K., Lenk, S. & Buschmann, C. Responses of the resurrection plant Haberlea rhodopensis to high irradiance. Photosynthetica 46, 208–215 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-008-0034-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-008-0034-8

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