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Salt-induced photoinhibition of PSII is alleviated in halophyte Thellungiella halophila by increases of unsaturated fatty acids in membrane lipids

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Abstract

The effect of salinity on plant growth, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic parameters, photochemical efficiency of PSII, membrane lipid content and fatty-acid composition of halophyte Thellungiella halophila and glycophyte Arabidopsis thaliana was investigated to examine the possible role of unsaturated fatty acids in photosynthesis under saline conditions. The growth of Arabidopsis was significantly decreased by the 100 and 200 mM NaCl treatments; however, there was no significant difference in the fresh and dry weight of Thellungiella at different concentrations of NaCl. Exposure of Arabidopsis to salt resulted in a progressive decline in chlorophyll content, while there was no significant change in that of Thellungiella. The net photosynthetic rate, maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII (F v/F m) and actual PSII efficiency were significantly reduced in Arabidopsis but remained unaffected in Thellungiella. Arabidopsis under NaCl treatment showed decreased PG levels and decreased values for the unsaturated fatty acid content and the double bond index (DBI) of monogalactosyldiacylglycerols and phosphatidylglycerols; these values significantly increased in Thellungiella under NaCl treatment, as did the DBI values of digalactosyldiacylglycerols and sulphoquinovosyldiacylglycerols. These results suggest that Thellungiella under salt stress displays high resistance to photoinhibition and that increased concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids in membrane lipids enhances the tolerance of photosystem II to salt stress.

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Abbreviations

16:0:

palmitic acid

16:1(3t):

∆3-trans-hexadecenoic

18:0:

Stearic acid

18:1:

Oleic acid

18:2:

Linoleic acid

18:3:

Linolenic acid

Chl:

Chlorophyll

DGDG:

Digalactosyldiacylglycerols

F o :

Initial fluorescence of the dark-adapted state

F v :

Variable fluorescence

F m :

Maximal fluorescence of the dark-adapted state

F s :

The steady-state fluorescence

F m′:

Maximal fluorescence in the light-adapted state

F v/F m :

Maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII

Ci:

Intercellular CO2 concentration

DBI:

Double bond index

Gs:

Stomatal conductance

MGDG:

Monogalactosyldiacylglycerols

PC:

Phosphatidylcholines

Pn:

Net photosynthetic rate

PG:

Phosphatidylglycerols

PPFD:

Photosynthetic photon flux density

ΦPSII:

The quantum yield of PSII electron transport

SQDG:

Sulphoquinovosyldiacylglycerols

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for financial support from the NSFC (National Natural Science Research Foundation of China, Project No. 31300205), Natural Science Research Foundation of Shandong (ZR2013CQ009) and the Program for Scientific research innovation team in Colleges and universities of Shandong Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Research, College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, People’s Republic of China

    Na Sui & Guoliang Han

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  1. Na Sui
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  2. Guoliang Han
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Correspondence to Na Sui.

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Communicated by Z. Gombos.

N. Sui and G. Han have contributed equally to this work.

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Sui, N., Han, G. Salt-induced photoinhibition of PSII is alleviated in halophyte Thellungiella halophila by increases of unsaturated fatty acids in membrane lipids. Acta Physiol Plant 36, 983–992 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-013-1477-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-013-1477-5

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