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Cyclic electron flow plays an important role in photoprotection for the resurrection plant Paraboea rufescens under drought stress

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Abstract

Resurrection plants could survive severe drought stress, but the underlying mechanism for protecting their photosynthetic apparatus against drought stress is unclear. Cyclic electron flow (CEF) has been documented as a crucial mechanism for photoprotection in Arabidopsis and tobacco. We hypothesized that CEF plays an important role in protecting photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII) against drought stress for resurrection plants. To address this hypothesis, the effects of mild drought stress on light energy distribution in PSII and P700 redox state were examined in a resurrection plant Paraboea rufescens. Cyclic electron flow was not activated below the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 400 μmol m−2 s−1 in leaves without drought stress. However, CEF was activated under low light in leaves with mild drought stress, and the effective quantum yield of PSII significantly decreased. Meanwhile, non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) was significantly stimulated not only under high light but also under low light. Compared with the control, the fraction of overall P700 that cannot be oxidized in a given state (PSI acceptor side limitation) under high light was maintained at low level of 0.1 in leaves with water deficit, indicating that the over-reduction of the PSI acceptor side was prevented by the significant stimulation of CEF. Furthermore, methyl viologen could significantly increase the PSII photo-inhibition induced by high light compared with chloramphenicol. These results suggested that CEF is an important mechanism for protecting PSI and PSII from drought stress in resurrection plants.

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Abbreviations

CEF:

Cyclic electron flow

LEF:

Linear electron flow

MV:

Methyl viologen

NPQ:

Non-photochemical quenching

PPFD:

Photosynthetic photon flux density

PS:

Photosystem

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

Y(I):

Effective quantum yield of photosystem I

Y(II):

Effective quantum yield of photosystem II

Y(NA):

Fraction of over P700 that cannot be oxidized in a given state

Y(ND):

Fraction of over P700 that is oxidized in a given state

Y(NO):

Fraction of energy that is passively dissipated in form of heat and fluorescence

Y(NPQ):

Fraction of energy dissipated in form of heat via the regulated non-photochemical quenching mechanism

Ψleaf :

Leaf water potential

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Acknowledgments

Xishuangbanna Station for Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystem Studies (XSTRE) provided climatic data. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 30900174 and 30770226) and the Key Laboratory of National Forestry Bureau for Fast-growing Tree Breeding and Cultivation in Central South China (an open project grant).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, 666303, Yunnan, China

    Wei Huang, Shi-Jian Yang, Shi-Bao Zhang, Jiao-Lin Zhang & Kun-Fang Cao

  2. School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, Anhui, China

    Wei Huang

  3. Graduate University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China

    Shi-Jian Yang

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  1. Wei Huang
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  2. Shi-Jian Yang
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  3. Shi-Bao Zhang
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Correspondence to Kun-Fang Cao.

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Huang, W., Yang, SJ., Zhang, SB. et al. Cyclic electron flow plays an important role in photoprotection for the resurrection plant Paraboea rufescens under drought stress. Planta 235, 819–828 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-011-1544-3

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