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Chilling-induced reduction of photosynthesis is mitigated by exposure to elevated CO2 concentrations

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Photosynthetica

Abstract

This work aimed to evaluate if chilling stress may be mitigated by elevated CO2 (EC) in Beta vulgaris L. plants. Photosynthetic rate was measured at 21% and 2% O2 after a short-term exposure of 5 h at four different treatments: 360 μmol(CO2) mol–1/25°C (AC); 360 μmol(CO2) mol–1/4°C (AC+LT); 700 μmol(CO2) mol–1/25°C (EC); 700 μmol(CO2) mol–1/4°C (EC+LT). Compared to AC+LT, EC+LT plants showed higher values of CO2 fixation, photochemical activity, and Rubisco amount. These latter invest a higher portion of photosynthetic electron flow to O2, differently from AC+LT plants that promote the regulated thermal dissipation processes. In EC+LT plants, the photosynthetic electron flow to O2 acts as a safety mechanism against the excess of absorbed light, upon return to prechilling conditions, allowing photosynthetic apparatus to maintain its efficiency. In AC+LT plants, the increase of thermal dissipation processes was not adequate to guarantee the PSII photoprotection and the photosynthetic recovery after chilling.

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Abbreviations

AC:

ambient [CO2]

[CO2]:

CO2 concentration

Chl:

chlorophyll

C i :

intercellular CO2 concentration

EC:

elevated [CO2]

F0 :

minimal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state

F0’ :

minimal fluorescence yield of the light-adapted state

Fm :

maximal fluorescent yield of the dark-adapted state

Fm’ :

maximal fluorescence level in light-adapted state

Fv :

variable fluorescence

Fv/Fm :

maximum quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

Fs :

steady-state fluorescence yield

gs:

stomatal conductance

Jf :

electron transport rate

Jc :

electron transport rate used for CO2 assimilation

Jo :

electron transport rate used for photorespiration

K:

Kelvin

LT:

low temperature

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

RD:

dark respiration

TCA:

trichloroacetic acid

Vc :

carboxylation rate of Rubisco

Vo :

oxygenation rate of Rubisco

ΦPSII :

effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

FNPQ:

the yield of regulated energy dissipation

FNO:

the yield of nonregulated energy dissipation

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia, 80126, Naples, Italy

    C. Arena

  2. Institute for Agricultural and Forestry Systems in the Mediterranean (ISAFoM), Department of Biology, Agriculture and Food Sciences (DiSBA), National Research Council (CNR), Via Patacca 85, 80056, Ercolano, Italy

    L. Vitale

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  1. C. Arena
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  2. L. Vitale
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Correspondence to C. Arena.

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Arena, C., Vitale, L. Chilling-induced reduction of photosynthesis is mitigated by exposure to elevated CO2 concentrations. Photosynthetica 56, 1259–1267 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-018-0843-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-018-0843-3

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