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Photo- and antioxidative protection, and a role for salicylic acid during drought and recovery in field-grown Phillyrea angustifolia plants

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Abstract

Mechanisms of photo- and antioxidative protection, the extent of oxidative stress, and salicylic acid accumulation in leaves of Phillyrea angustifolia L. (Oleaceae) plants exposed to drought and recovery in Mediterranean field conditions were studied. The amounts of α-tocopherol increased up to 4-fold and those of zeaxanthin increased up to 3-fold at relative leaf water contents (RWCs) of ca. 60%, which caused up to 70% increases in the de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle (DPS). While α-tocopherol increased further in severe drought, zeaxanthin levels and DPS remained constant, β-carotene decreased and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels increased at RWCs below 50%. Though this was associated with significant decreases in the maximum efficiency of photosystem II photochemistry (F v/F m), the same leaves that suffered from drought recovered after rainfalls, and similar MDA levels and F v/F m ratios to those observed before drought were attained. During recovery (i) the F v/F m ratio and β-carotene levels increased slowly, (ii) α-tocopherol levels decreased sharply, to increase again, and (iii) MDA levels in leaves increased to values 35% higher than those observed at maximum drought, and decreased later. Salicylic acid (SA) levels showed a strong negative correlation (r 2=0.857) with the RWC, and increased progressively up to 5-fold, during drought. During recovery, SA levels decreased, but remained slightly higher than those observed before drought. SA levels were positively correlated with those of α-tocopherol during drought (r 2=0.718), but not during recovery (r 2=0.221). We conclude that (i) P. angustifolia plants activate several mechanisms of photo- and antioxidative protection to withstand drought stress during a Mediterranean summer, (ii) endogenous SA levels increase in leaves of drought-stressed plants, thus suggesting a role for SA in plant responses to drought, and (iii) plants suffer oxidative stress during recovery, and this stress is more severe as the previous drought is more intense.

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Abbreviations

AOS:

activated oxygen species

α-T:

α-tocopherol

β-C:

β-carotene

Chl:

chlorophyll a+b

DPS:

de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle

DW:

dry weight

F v/F m :

maximum efficiency of photosystem II photochemistry

FW:

fresh weight

IR plants:

irrigated plants

LMA:

leaf mass/area ratio

MDA:

malondialdehyde

PPFD:

photosynthetically active photon flux density

PSII:

photosystem II

RWC:

relative leaf water content

SA:

salicylic acid

SR1 plants:

plants exposed to water deficit until their RWC was ca. 50% and then revived by rainfalls

SR2 plants:

plants exposed to water deficit until their RWC was ca. 40% and then revived by rainfalls

VPD:

vapour pressure deficit

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the Serveis Científico-Tècnics (University of Barcelona) for technical assistance. This research was supported by MCYT-REN2000-0278/CLI and MCYT-REN2001-0003/GLO grants from the Spanish Government and by the European Environment Programme (VULCAN-EVK2-CT-2000-00094).

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  1. Sergi Munné-Bosch

    Present address: Departament de Biologia Vegetal, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avinguda Diagonal 645, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

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  1. Unitat d'Ecofisiologia CSIC–CEAB–CREAF, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain

    Sergi Munné-Bosch & Josep Peñuelas

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  1. Sergi Munné-Bosch
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Correspondence to Sergi Munné-Bosch.

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Munné-Bosch, S., Peñuelas, J. Photo- and antioxidative protection, and a role for salicylic acid during drought and recovery in field-grown Phillyrea angustifolia plants. Planta 217, 758–766 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-003-1037-0

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