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Effects of high temperature coupled with high light on the balance between photooxidation and photoprotection in the sun-exposed peel of apple

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Abstract

The sun-exposed peel of ‘Gala’ apple with or without sunburn was compared in terms of photooxidation and photoprotection, and a controlled experiment was conducted to probe the initial responses of PSII to high light and high temperature. The content of carotenoids, lutein and xanthophylls on a chlorophyll basis was higher in the sunburned peel although they were lower expressed on a peel area basis. Significant loss of β-carotene and neoxanthin was observed relative to chlorophylls in the sunburned peel. O2 evolution rates and the activity of key enzymes in the Calvin cycle were lower in the sunburned peel, but the activity of these enzymes decreased to a lesser extent than the O2 evolution rates. The activity of antioxidant enzymes in the ascorbate-glutathione cycle and the level of total ascorbate, total glutathione, and reduced glutathione were higher in the sunburned peel. However, the sunburned peel had higher H2O2 and malondialdehyde contents. Fruit peels treated with high temperature (45°C) alone showed a clear “K” step in their chlorophyll fluorescence transients whereas high temperature coupled with high light (1,600 μmol m−2 s−1) led to the disappearance of the “K” step and a further decrease in F V/F M (similar to what was observed in the sunburned peel). We conclude that high temperature coupled with high light damages the PSII complexes at both the donor and acceptor sides. Although both the xanthophyll cycle and the antioxidant system are up-regulated in response to the photooxidative stress, this up-regulation does not provide enough protection against the photooxidation.

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Abbreviations

A:

Antheraxanthin

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

CAT:

Catalase

Chl:

Chlorophylls

DHA:

Oxidized ascorbate

DHAR:

Dehydroascorbate reductase

FBPase:

Stromal fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase

PFD:

Photon flux density

F O, F M :

Minimum and maximum fluorescence

F V/F M :

Maximum quantum yield of PSII

GPX:

Guaiacol peroxidase

GR:

Glutathione reductase

GSH:

Reduced glutathione

GSSG:

Oxidized glutathione

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

MDAR:

Monodehydroascorbate reductase

NADP-GAPDH:

NADP-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase

OEC:

Oxygen evolving complex

PSII:

Photosystem II

Rubisco:

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

PRK:

Phosphoribulokinase

PGK:

3-phosphoglycerate kinase

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

V:

Violaxanthin

Z:

Zeaxanthin

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by Washington tree Fruit Research Commission. We thank Dr. David Felicetti and Dr. Larry Schrader at the Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center of Washington State University for their help in monitoring peel temperatures and collecting fruit samples, and Richard Raba for technical assistance. We also thank Dr. Huiyuan Gao at Shandong Agricultural University for helpful discussions on chlorophyll a fluorescence transients.

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  1. Li-Song Chen

    Present address: Department of Horticulture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, People’s Republic of China

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  1. Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, 134A Plant Science Building, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Li-Song Chen, Pengmin Li & Lailiang Cheng

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  1. Li-Song Chen
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  2. Pengmin Li
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Correspondence to Lailiang Cheng.

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L.-S. Chen and P. Li contributed equally to this work.

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Chen, LS., Li, P. & Cheng, L. Effects of high temperature coupled with high light on the balance between photooxidation and photoprotection in the sun-exposed peel of apple. Planta 228, 745–756 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-008-0776-3

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