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Photosynthetic responses of Chrysanthemum morifolium to growth irradiance: morphology, anatomy and chloroplast ultrastructure

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Photosynthetica

Abstract

Seedlings of Chrysanthemum, cultivar ‘Puma Sunny’, were grown under a range of shading regimes (natural full sunlight, 55, 25, and 15% of full sunlight) for 18 days. Here, we characterized effects of varying light regimes on plant morphology, photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence, anatomical traits, and chloroplast ultrastructure. We showed that leaf color was yellowish-green under full sunlight. Leaf area, internode length, and petiole length of plants were the largest under 15% irradiance. Net photosynthetic rate, water-use efficiency, PSII quantum efficiency, and starch grain were reduced with decreasing irradiance from 100 to 15%. Heavy shading resulted in the partial closure of PSII reaction centers and the CO2 assimilation was restricted. The results showed the leaves of plants were thinner under 25 and 15% irradiance with loose palisade tissue and irregularly arranged spongy mesophyll cells, while the plants grown under full sunlight showed the most compact leaf palisade parenchyma. Irradiance lesser than 25% of full sunlight reduced carbon assimilation and led to limited plant growth. Approximately 55% irradiance was suggested to be the optimal for Chrysanthemum morifolium.

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Abbreviations

C i :

intercellular CO2 concentration

Chl:

chlorophyll

g s :

stomatal conductance

DAT:

days of treatment

DM:

dry mass

E :

transpiration rate

ETR:

electron transport rate

Fm :

maximal fluorescence yield of the light-adapted state

Fm':

maximal fluorescence yield of the light-adapted state

F0':

minimal fluorescence yield of the light-adapted state

Fs :

steady-state fluorescence yield

Fv/Fm :

maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

LA:

leaf area

NPQ:

nonphotochemical quenching

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

ΦPSII :

effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

qP :

photochemical quenching coefficient

SLA:

specific leaf area

WUE:

water-use efficiency

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China

    S. Han, S. M. Chen, A. P. Song, R. X. Liu, H. Y. Li, J. F. Jiang & F. D. Chen

  2. College of Life Science, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, Henan, 476000, China

    S. Han

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  1. S. Han
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  2. S. M. Chen
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  3. A. P. Song
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  4. R. X. Liu
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  7. F. D. Chen
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Correspondence to F. D. Chen.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by 948 Project of Ministry of Agriculture [2016-X18], Project of "333 project" in Jiangsu Province (BRA2015315), Fund for Independent Innovation of Agricultural Sciences in Jiangsu Province [CX(16)1025, CX(14) 2022, CX ( 14 ) 2023 ], and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (KYCYL201501, KYZ201507, KYRC201601).

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Han, S., Chen, S.M., Song, A.P. et al. Photosynthetic responses of Chrysanthemum morifolium to growth irradiance: morphology, anatomy and chloroplast ultrastructure. Photosynthetica 55, 184–192 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-016-0219-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-016-0219-5

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