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Physiological and ultrastructural responses of sour orange (Citrus aurantium L.) clones to water stress

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Photosynthetica

Abstract

Water stress is a major abiotic constraint leading to serious crop losses. Recently, in the Mediterranean region, water stress has become markedly sensed, especially in Citrus orchards. This study investigated the physiological responses of local sour orange (Citrus aurantium L.) clones to severe water stress. Water stress was applied by withholding irrigation during weeks, followed by a rewatering phase during three months. Under water stress, sour orange clones decreased their stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rate, and transpiration rate. On the contrary, biomass was stable, especially in the Kliaa clone. In addition, reduced leaf water potentials (-3 MPa) and water contents were measured in most of the clones, except Kliaa which kept the highest water potential (-2.5 MPa). After rewatering, all clones recovered except of the Ghars Mrad (GM) clone. Ultrastructural observations of leaf sections by transmission electron microscopy did not reveal marked alterations in the mesophyll cells and chloroplast structure of Kliaa in comparison to the sensitive clone GM, in which palisade parenchyma cells and chloroplasts were disorganized. This contrasting behavior was mainly attributed to genetic differences as attested by molecular analysis. This study highlighted GM as the drought-sensitive clone and Kliaa as the tolerant clone able to develop an avoidance strategy based on an efficient stomatal regulation. Although a high percentage of polyembryony characterizes C. aurantium and justifies its multiplication by seeds, heterogeneous water-stress responses could be observed within sour orange plants in young orchards.

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Abbreviations

C:

control, irrigated plants

C i :

intercellular CO2 concentration

DM:

dry mass

E :

transpiration

EH:

equivalent humidity

FM:

fresh mass

GM:

Ghars Mrad

g s :

stomatal conductance

IBA:

indol-butyric acid

LWC:

leaf water content

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

RAPD:

random amplified polymorphic DNA

REW:

rewatered plants

TEM:

transmission electron microscopy

Wg:

gravimetric soil water content

WS:

water-stressed plants

Ψw :

leaf water potential

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Center of Biotechnology of Borj Cedia (CBBC), PB 901, Hammam-Lif, 2050, Tunisia

    A. Ben Salem-Fnayou, I. Belghith, M. Lamine, A. Mliki & A. Ghorbel

Authors
  1. A. Ben Salem-Fnayou
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  2. I. Belghith
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  3. M. Lamine
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  4. A. Mliki
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  5. A. Ghorbel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Ben Salem-Fnayou.

Additional information

Acknowledgements: Authors are grateful to Mrs. Aouatef Ben Ammar (Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Faculty of Medicine,Tunis) for technical assistance concerning transmission electron microscopy.

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Salem-Fnayou, A.B., Belghith, I., Lamine, M. et al. Physiological and ultrastructural responses of sour orange (Citrus aurantium L.) clones to water stress. Photosynthetica 54, 532–541 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-016-0221-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-016-0221-y

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