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Photosynthetic regulation of C4 desert plant Haloxylon ammodendron under drought stress

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Abstract

About 20-year-old desert plants of C4 species, Haloxylon ammodendron, growing at the southern edge of the Badain Jaran Desert in China, were selected to study the photosynthetic characteristics and changes in chlorophyll fluorescence when plants were subject to a normal arid environment (AE), moist atmospheric conditions during post-rain (PR), and the artificial supplement of soil water (SW). Results showed that under high radiation, in the AE, the species down-regulated its net assimilation rate (A) and maximum photochemical efficiency of PS II (Fv/Fm), indicating photoinhibition. However, under the PR and SW environments, A was up-regulated, with a unimodal diurnal course of A and a small diurnal change in Fv/Fm, suggesting no photoinhibition. When the air humidity or SW content was increased, the light compensation points were reduced; light saturation points were enhanced; while light saturated rate of CO2 assimilation (A max) and apparent quantum yield of CO2 assimilation (ΦC) increased. ΦC was higher while the A max was reduced under PR relative to the SW treatment. It was concluded that under high-radiation conditions drought stress causes photoinhibition of H. ammodendron. Increasing air humidity or soil moisture content can reduce photoinhibition and increase the efficiency of solar energy use.

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Abbreviations

A :

Net assimilation rate

A max :

Light saturated rate of CO2 assimilation

AE:

Arid environment

ΦC :

Apparent quantum yield of CO2 assimilation

Ca :

Ambient CO2 concentration

Ci :

Intercellular CO2 concentration

Fv/Fm:

Maximum photochemical efficiency of PS II

I c :

Light compensation point

I k :

Light saturation point

PR:

Moist atmospheric conditions during post-rain

PFD:

Photon flux density

RH:

Air relative humidity

SW:

Supplement of soil water

SW1:

On day 1 after watering

SW2:

On day 2 after watering

Ta:

Air temperature

Tl:

Leaf temperature

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the financial support by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (No. 40471046) and the key project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX1-09). The authors also want to express thanks to the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments to the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Linze Inland River Basin Comprehensive Research Station, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, CAS, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Peixi Su, Qiaodi Yan & **nmin Liu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, CAS, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Peixi Su & Guodong Cheng

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  1. Peixi Su
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Correspondence to Peixi Su.

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Su, P., Cheng, G., Yan, Q. et al. Photosynthetic regulation of C4 desert plant Haloxylon ammodendron under drought stress. Plant Growth Regul 51, 139–147 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-006-9156-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-006-9156-9

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