Abstract
Dendrobium is one of the three largest genera in the Orchidaceae and is distributed throughout various habitats. We investigated photosynthesis in seven Dendrobium species and cultivars by comparing their leaf δ13C values, titratable acidity, and CO2 exchange in well-watered and drought-stressed conditions. In addition, the leaf thickness and mesophyll succulence index (Sm) were measured in well-watered conditions. Our results indicate that Dendrobium loddigesii is a typical obligate (or constitutive) CAM plant because the leaf δ13C values were −14.47 and −14.66‰ in both conditions, respectively. Others showed the leaf thickness of 0.31–0.89 mm and their δ13C values ranged from −25.68 to −28.37‰. These are not the CAM plants but they could not be classified as obligate C3 or C3/CAM intermediate plants. Dendrobium crepidatum and Dendrobium fimbriatum were further identified as the obligate C3 plants because the net CO2 uptake was positive during daytime and negative during nighttime in both conditions. In contrast, Dendrobium chrysotoxum, Dendrobium nobile, and D. nobile ‘V1’ and ‘V4’, showed no positive net CO2 uptake and low ΔH+ values during nighttime under well-watered conditions, indicating C3 photosynthesis. However, they showed the positive net CO2 uptake and large ΔH+ values during nighttime after drought-stress (21 or 28 days without H2O), indicating CAM photosynthesis. Therefore, these four species and cultivars were identified as C3/CAM intermediate (inducible or facultative) plants. In brief, obligate CAM, C3/CAM intermediate, and obligate C3 plant types all exist in the section of Dendrobium. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the obligate C3 plants in Dendrobium, and these diverse photosynthetic pathways may explain their varied environmental adaptations.
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Abbreviations
- CAM:
-
crassulacean acid metabolism
- Chl:
-
chlorophyll
- DM:
-
dry mass
- DS:
-
drought-stressed
- FM:
-
fresh mass
- ΔH+ :
-
titratable acidity accumulated during nighttime
- LWC:
-
leaf water content
- Sm :
-
mesophyll succulence index
- WW:
-
well-watered
- δ13C:
-
carbone isotope ratio 13C/12C
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Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank Enago (www.enago.cn) and Dr. Jing Luo of Huazhong Agricultral University for the English language review. This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170657) and the “Twelfth Five-Year” National Science and Technology Project in Rural Areas (2011BAD12B02).
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Qiu, S., Sultana, S., Liu, Z.D. et al. Identification of obligate C3 photosynthesis in Dendrobium . Photosynthetica 53, 168–176 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0110-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0110-9