scholarly journals Differences in the photosynthetic and physiological responses of Leymus chinensis to different levels of grazing intensity

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Liu ◽  
Jirui Gong ◽  
Bo Yang ◽  
Yong Ding ◽  
Zihe Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Grazing is an important land use in northern China. In general, different grazing intensities had a different impact on the morphological and physiological traits of plants, and especially their photosynthetic capacity. We investigated the responses of Leymus chinensis to light, medium, and heavy grazing intensities in comparison with a grazing exclusion control. Results With light grazing, L. chinensis showed decreased photosynthetic capacity. The low chlorophyll and carotenoid contents constrained light energy transformation and dissipation, and Rubisco activity was also low, restricting the carboxylation efficiency. In addition, the damaged photosynthetic apparatus accumulated reactive oxygen species (ROS). With medium grazing, more energy was used for thermal dissipation, with high carotene content and high non-photochemical quenching, whereas photosynthetic electron transport was lowest. Significantly decreased photosynthesis decreased leaf C contents. Plants decreased the risk caused by ROS through increased energy dissipation. With high grazing intensity, plants changed their strategy to improve survival through photosynthetic compensation. More energy was allocated to photosynthetic electron transport. Though heavy grazing damaged the chloroplast ultrastructure, adjustment of internal mechanisms increased compensatory photosynthesis, and an increased tiller number facilitated regrowth after grazing. Conclusions Overall, the plants adopted different strategies by adjusting their metabolism and growth in response to their changing environment.

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Bellan ◽  
Francesca Bucci ◽  
Giorgio Perin ◽  
Alessandro Alboresi ◽  
Tomas Morosinotto

Abstract In nature, photosynthetic organisms are exposed to highly dynamic environmental conditions where the excitation energy and electron flow in the photosynthetic apparatus need to be continuously modulated. Fluctuations in incident light are particularly challenging because they drive oversaturation of photosynthesis with consequent oxidative stress and photoinhibition. Plants and algae have evolved several mechanisms to modulate their photosynthetic machinery to cope with light dynamics, such as thermal dissipation of excited chlorophyll states (non-photochemical quenching, NPQ) and regulation of electron transport. The regulatory mechanisms involved in the response to light dynamics have adapted during evolution, and exploring biodiversity is a valuable strategy for expanding our understanding of their biological roles. In this work, we investigated the response to fluctuating light in Nannochloropsis gaditana, a eukaryotic microalga of the phylum Heterokonta originating from a secondary endosymbiotic event. Nannochloropsis gaditana is negatively affected by light fluctuations, leading to large reductions in growth and photosynthetic electron transport. Exposure to light fluctuations specifically damages photosystem I, likely because of the ineffective regulation of electron transport in this species. The role of NPQ, also assessed using a mutant strain specifically depleted of this response, was instead found to be minor, especially in responding to the fastest light fluctuations.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1216
Author(s):  
Marine Messant ◽  
Anja Krieger-Liszkay ◽  
Ginga Shimakawa

Photosynthesis has to work efficiently in contrasting environments such as in shade and full sun. Rapid changes in light intensity and over-reduction of the photosynthetic electron transport chain cause production of reactive oxygen species, which can potentially damage the photosynthetic apparatus. Thus, to avoid such damage, photosynthetic electron transport is regulated on many levels, including light absorption in antenna, electron transfer reactions in the reaction centers, and consumption of ATP and NADPH in different metabolic pathways. Many regulatory mechanisms involve the movement of protein-pigment complexes within the thylakoid membrane. Furthermore, a certain number of chloroplast proteins exist in different oligomerization states, which temporally associate to the thylakoid membrane and modulate their activity. This review starts by giving a short overview of the lipid composition of the chloroplast membranes, followed by describing supercomplex formation in cyclic electron flow. Protein movements involved in the various mechanisms of non-photochemical quenching, including thermal dissipation, state transitions and the photosystem II damage–repair cycle are detailed. We highlight the importance of changes in the oligomerization state of VIPP and of the plastid terminal oxidase PTOX and discuss the factors that may be responsible for these changes. Photosynthesis-related protein movements and organization states of certain proteins all play a role in acclimation of the photosynthetic organism to the environment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (43) ◽  
pp. 12322-12327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caterina Gerotto ◽  
Alessandro Alboresi ◽  
Andrea Meneghesso ◽  
Martina Jokel ◽  
Marjaana Suorsa ◽  
...  

Photosynthetic organisms support cell metabolism by harvesting sunlight to fuel the photosynthetic electron transport. The flow of excitation energy and electrons in the photosynthetic apparatus needs to be continuously modulated to respond to dynamics of environmental conditions, and Flavodiiron (FLV) proteins are seminal components of this regulatory machinery in cyanobacteria. FLVs were lost during evolution by flowering plants, but are still present in nonvascular plants such as Physcomitrella patens. We generated P. patens mutants depleted in FLV proteins, showing their function as an electron sink downstream of photosystem I for the first seconds after a change in light intensity. flv knock-out plants showed impaired growth and photosystem I photoinhibition when exposed to fluctuating light, demonstrating FLV’s biological role as a safety valve from excess electrons on illumination changes. The lack of FLVs was partially compensated for by an increased cyclic electron transport, suggesting that in flowering plants, the FLV’s role was taken by other alternative electron routes.


1999 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 377-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Loreto ◽  
Domenico Tricoli ◽  
Mauro Centritto ◽  
Arturo Alvino ◽  
Sebastiano Delfine

Short-term fumigation with 1% methanol in air was carried out to investigate effects on the photosynthetic apparatus of horticultural species characterized by leaves with different stomatal distribution. Methanol decreased the photosynthetic capacity of all species. The hypostomatous cherry (Prunus avium L.) was the most sensitive species. Between the two amphistomatous species, the effect was smaller in pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. annuum) than in melon (Cucumis melo L.). A 4-minute fumigation caused a stronger inhibition of photosynthesis than a 90-second fumigation. The time course of the inhibition of the photosynthetic electron transport following a methanol fumigation of cherry leaves suggests that methanol starts inhibiting photosynthesis and photorespiration after ≈60 seconds and that the effect is complete after 180 seconds. This inhibition is not permanent, however, since gas-exchange properties recovered within 24 hours. Methanol vapor effects were greatest when leaves were fumigated on the surfaces with stomata. However, fumigation with methanol does not affect stomatal conductance. Therefore, inhibition of photosynthesis following methanol fumigation can be attributed to a temporary inhibition of biochemical reactions.


Author(s):  
Jinsheng Li ◽  
Jianying Shang ◽  
Ding Huang ◽  
Shiming Tang ◽  
Tianci Zhao ◽  
...  

The distribution of soil particle sizes is closely related to soil health condition. In this study, grasslands under different grazing intensities and different cultivation ages grasslands were selected to evaluate the dynamics of soil particle size redistribution in different soil layers. When the grazing intensity increased, the percentage of 2000~150-μm soil particles in the 0–10-cm soil layer decreased; 150~53-μm soil particles remained relatively stable among the grazing intensities—approximately 28.52%~35.39%. However, the percentage of less than 53-μm soil particles increased. In cultivated grasslands, the larger sizes (>53 μm) of soil particles increased and the smaller sizes (<53 μm) decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in the 0–10 cm-soil layer with increasing cultivation ages. The increase in small soil particles (<53 μm) in topsoil associated with grazing intensity increased the potential risk of further degradation by wind erosion. The increase in big soil particles (>53 μm) in topsoil associated with cultivation ages decreased the soil capacity of holding water and nutrient. Therefore, to maintain the sustainability of grassland uses, grazing grasslands need to avoid heavy grazing, and cultivated grasslands need to change current cultivation practices.


Weed Science ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 443-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arturo Cedeno-Maldonado ◽  
J. A. Swader

Autotrophic growth, photosynthesis, and respiration ofChlorella sorokinianaShihira and Krauss were inhibited by the cupric ion, but photosynthesis was more sensitive than respiration. The percent inhibition was determined by the ratio of cells to cupric ions present. Photosynthesis and respiration were inhibited within 2 and 5 min, respectively, after adding 1.0 mM cupric ions.Chlorellacells which had been incubated for a short time in concentrations of the cupric ion that completely inhibited photosynthesis were not able to grow when cultured in a fresh medium without cupric ions, indicating high concentrations of the ion may have destroyed the photosynthetic apparatus and deprived the cells of their ability for autotrophic growth. Dark preincubation of the cells, as well as high bicarbonate concentrations in the assay medium, decreased inhibition. Treatment with cupric ions reduced the cellular chlorophyll and sulfhydryl content, but anaerobiosis, a condition that increased toxicity, had little effect on the sulfhydryl content. Electron transport in photosystems I and II in intactChlorellacells was inhibited, but the specific sites of inhibition in the photosynthetic electron transport chain could not be determined using intact cells.


2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-216
Author(s):  
Eva Darkó ◽  
H. Ambrus ◽  
A. Szenzenstein ◽  
B. Barnabás

The chilling tolerance of doubled haploid (DH) maize plants selected and regenerated from microspores exposed to prooxidants, paraquat or tert-butyl hydroperoxide was determined by monitoring cold-induced changes in the photosynthetic electron transport, CO2 assimilation processes and chlorophyll breakdown in young leaves after cold treatment (8°C for 5 days). The results were compared to those of the non-selected DH line and the original hybrid plants. Chilling stress caused a great reduction in the Fv/Fm, qP and ΔF/Fm’ fluorescence parameters, related to the photosynthetic electron transport processes, and in carbon assimilation, and resulted in chlorophyll breakdown. These changes were less extensive in the selected DH plants, which showed elevated antioxidant capacity both at ambient and at low temperature. Among the antioxidant enzymes tested, the activity of GR and GST was induced by chilling stress to the greatest extent. Correlations between cold-induced changes in the photosynthetic apparatus and the antioxidant capacity of the plants suggested that the better protection against oxidative stress induced by the elevated antioxidant capacity of the plants contributed to protecting the photosynthetic apparatus from cold.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 313
Author(s):  
Wei Xiaoting ◽  
Zhong Mengying ◽  
Liu Yuehua ◽  
Wu Ruixin ◽  
Shao Xinqing

Root traits are closely related to nutrient absorption and resource competition and can even influence plant recovery and community succession. Grazing can influence root traits directly through trampling and foraging, or indirectly by changing soil characteristics. In the present study, a grazing experiment that involved combinations of grazing season (from June to September) and intensity (rest, moderate and heavy) was conducted in steppe rangeland, Inner Mongolia, China to investigate how the root traits of Leymus chinensis respond to different grazing regimes in the case of aboveground miniaturisation after long-term overgrazing. Root traits such as root length, root surface area, specific root length, root tissue density, root links (unbranched parts of a root connecting either a tip and a branching point or two branching points) and root topological structure were scanned and analysed using Win-RHIZO image analysis software. The results showed that the size of L. chinensis plants was reduced in response to overgrazing, typically by a smaller plant height, total root length, root surface area, root volume, number of tips and number of links. However, root diameter and link length, branching angle and topological structure (herringbone or dichotomous) were unaffected by grazing. Most root traits showed strong correlations under moderate grazing intensity, but not under heavy grazing, indicating that grazing changed the relationships among root traits. Relationships between plant height and root traits (total root length and number of links) shifted from positive to negative as grazing intensity increased, and the trade-off between aboveground and belowground traits was an important adaptive strategy of L. chinensis under heavy grazing. Decreasing grazing intensity in the late grazing season could benefit plant recovery, and a rest in the early grazing season would mitigate root and shoot damage.


2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Song Chen ◽  
Lailiang Cheng

To determine whether the sun-exposed peel of apple fruit has a higher photosynthetic capacity than the shaded peel, fruit peel samples were taken in both early July and early September from the exterior part of the canopy of mature ‘Liberty’/M.9 trees for measuring oxygen evolution, key enzymes and metabolites involved in photosynthesis, and chlorophyll fluorescence. Compared with the shaded peel, the sun-exposed peel had higher light-saturated oxygen evolution rate and higher light saturation point, but lower apparent and true quantum yields. The activity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, phosphoribulokinase, stromal fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase and sucrose-phosphate synthase (SPS) were higher in the sun-exposed peel than in the shaded peel on both sampling dates except that no significant difference was found in SPS activity between the two peel types in September. No significant difference was detected in the concentration of key metabolites (G6P, F6P, G1P, and PGA) between the sun-exposed peel and the shaded peel, suggesting that the response of the key enzymes to light exposure is well coordinated. Chlorophyll fluorescence quenching analysis showed that the sun-exposed peel had higher PSII quantum efficiency than the shaded peel at each given PFD, which resulted mainly from the higher photochemical quenching coefficient (qP). The sun-exposed peel had higher thermal dissipation capacity, as indicated by larger NPQ and Fo quenching, than the shaded peel at high PFD. In conclusion, the sun-exposed peel of apple fruit has higher activities of the Calvin cycle enzymes and higher rate of electron transport, leading to higher photosynthetic O2 evolution capacity. It appears that the acclimation of the Calvin cycle activities, thermal dissipation, and electron transport in apple peel are well coordinated in response to light exposure.


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