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Photosynthetic and physiological responses of mangroves under an environmental deterioration

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Abstract

Mangroves are important marine coastal ecosystems in the Pearl River Estuary in China. However, they are degraded by heavy metal pollution. Although heavy metal levels in the Pearl River Estuary have been investigated, physiological and photosynthetic responses related to mangrove health remain unclear. In this study, three typical mangrove species, namely Kandelia candel L., Aegiceras corniculatum L. and Sonneratia apetala L., were selected from six normal sites of mangrove reserves and from six deteriorated sites along the river way to investigate the variation in physiological and photosynthetic responses. The photosynthetic and transpiration rates and the enzyme activities associated with mangrove metabolic activity were significantly lower in the deteriorated sites than in the normal sites. The K+/Na+ ratio of mangroves in the normal sites was higher than that in the deteriorated sites. H2O2 contents were also higher in the deteriorated sites than in the normal sites. Cluster analysis indicated that species determined the responses of mangroves to the deteriorated environment. Principal component analysis revealed that hexose phosphate isomerase and H2O2 were representative parameters that could be used for rapid health assessment. The transpiration rate and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase were biomarkers that could be considered to distinguish mangroves with different responses to deteriorated environments. This study helps ensure the sustainable development of marine coastal ecosystems in the Pearl River Estuary.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ocean Public Funded Project from State Oceanic Administration (Grant No. 201305021). We thank Dr. Zhu Xiaoshan and Dr. Feng Jianxiang from Division of Ocean Science and Technology, Tsinghua University for their support during sample collection.

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    1. Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, People’s Republic of China

      Jie Guo, Xianyang Chen, Hexigeduleng Bao & Yinxin Li

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    1. Jie Guo
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    Correspondence to Yinxin Li.

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    Communicated by U. Feller.

    J. Guo and X. Chen contributed equally to this work.

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    Guo, J., Chen, X., Bao, H. et al. Photosynthetic and physiological responses of mangroves under an environmental deterioration. Acta Physiol Plant 38, 140 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-016-2157-z

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