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Mechanism of xanthophyll-cycle-mediated photoprotection in Cerasus humilis seedlings under water stress and subsequent recovery

  • Original Papers
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Photosynthetica

Abstract

Periodic drought fluctuation is a common phenomenon in Northwest China. We analyzed the response of Chinese dwarf cherry (Cerasus humilis) seedlings, a dwarf shrub species with considerably strong adaptabilities, exposed to water stress (WS) by withholding water for 21 d, and subsequent recovery of 7 d. Leaf relative water content (LRWC), net photosynthetic rate (P N), maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fm), and effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (ΦPSII) decreased with increasing water deficit. In contrast, the nonphotochemical quenching of Chl fluorescence (NPQ) significantly increased, as well as the amounts of violaxanthin (V) + antheraxanthin (A) + zeaxanthin (Z). In the whole levels, the photosynthetic pigment composition did not display significant changes in WS seedlings. However, the de-epoxidation state of xanthophyll cycle pigments [(Z+0.5A)/VAZ ] generally exhibited higher values in WS seedlings. The significant inhibition of de-epoxidation by dithiothreitol (DTT) and negligible changes of epoxidation of Z by glucosamine (Gla) were both observed; the slight but stably upregulated transcript level of violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) and downregulated zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP) expression profile were found during WS period, indicating that they were regulated on post-transcript levels. VDE activity, via the accumulation of Z and A, which confers a greater capacity of photoprotection, appears to contribute to the survival of severely stressed plants.

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Abbreviations

A:

antheraxanthin

Chl:

chlorophyll

DEPS:

the de-epoxidation state of xanthophyll cycle pigments

E :

transpiration rate

Fv/Fm :

maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

g s :

stomatal conductance

HPLC:

high-performance liquid chromatography

LRWC:

leaf relative water content

NPQ:

nonphotochemical quenching

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

PSII:

photosystem II

RCs:

reaction centers

V:

violaxanthin

VAZ:

total amount of xanthophyll cycle components

Z:

zeaxanthin

ΦPSII :

effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30800876), National Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (C201017), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (DL09CA09), Postgraduate Dissertation Funds (STIP10) and the Young Top-notch Talent support Program of Northeast Forestry University (YTTP-1011-08).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, College of Life Science, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China

    X. S. Song, Z. W. Shang, Z. P. Yin, M. C. Sun & X. L. Ma

  2. Department of Biology and Food Science, College of ChengDong, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150040, China

    J. Ren

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  1. X. S. Song
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  2. Z. W. Shang
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  3. Z. P. Yin
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Correspondence to X. S. Song.

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Song, X.S., Shang, Z.W., Yin, Z.P. et al. Mechanism of xanthophyll-cycle-mediated photoprotection in Cerasus humilis seedlings under water stress and subsequent recovery. Photosynthetica 49, 523–530 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-011-0065-4

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