Stomatal and non-stomatal limitations of photosynthesis in trees of a tropical seasonally flooded forest.

Trees in the flooded forest of the Mapire River in Venezuela suffer a decrease in photosynthetic rate (A) when flood begins, which is reverted at maximum flood. Changes in A are accompanied by similar changes in stomatal conductance (g(s)), and the possibility of changes in photosynthetic capacity is not ruled out. In order to understand how relative stomatal and non-stomatal limitations of photosynthesis are affected by flooding, we studied the seasonal changes in A and its response to intercellular CO(2) concentration in trees of Campsiandra laurifolia, Symmeria paniculata, Acosmium nitens and Eschweilera tenuifolia. Flooding caused in trees of C. laurifolia and S. paniculata a reduction in A, g(s), carboxylation efficiency and total soluble protein (TSP), whereas gas exchange in A. nitens and E. tenuifolia was more sensitive to drought. Under flooding, relative stomatal limitation (L(s)) was on average half the highest, and relative non-stomatal limitation (L(ns)) increased from the dry season to flooding. Under full flood, A, g(s) and TSP regained high values. A was positively correlated to light-saturated electron transport rate, suggesting that part of the decrease in A under flooding was due to impairment of photosynthetic capacity. Under flooding, not only stomatal closure but also increased L(ns) causes a reduction in photosynthesis of all four species, and a process of acclimation as flooding progresses allows gas exchange and related variables to regain high values.

Seasonal changes in water relations photosynthesis and leaf anatomy of two species growing along a natural CO2 gradient

Se realizaron medidas del estado hídrico, intercambio gaseoso y características anatómicas foliares en dos especies (Brownea coccinea y Spatiphylum cannifolium) que crecen naturalmente a lo largo de un gradiente natural de CO2, desde una concentración supra-atmosférica (CS) de 35000µmol.mol-¹ a una concentración ambiental (CA) de 435µmol-mol-¹, en el bosque ribereño del río Santa Ana (estado Sucre, Venezuela). Las medidas se realizaron en dos épocas contrastes, lluvia y sequía. El potencial hídrico (psy) fue cerca de 60 por ciento mayor en lluvia que en sequía en ambas especies. El crecimiento en CS no ocasionó cambios en el (psi) de B. coccinea, mientras que en S. cannifolium causó un descenso, estos cambios estuvieron acompañados en ambas especies con disminuciones en el potencial osmótico (psi pi). Las elevadas concentraciones de CO2 causaron una mejora en la fotosíntesis (A) y la conductancia estomática (gs) de B. coccinea, pero en S. cannifolium no se encontraron diferencias significativas. En las plantas de ambas especies que crecen en CS las hojas eran 10 por ciento más gruesas debido a un incremento del grosor de los tejidos del mesófilo en la misma proporción; además, las plantas de S. cannifolium que crecen en CS tiene lugar una mayor deposición de ceras espicuticulares durante la época de sequía

Photosynthetic responses of the tropical spiny shrub Lycium nodosum (Solanaceae) to drought, soil salinity and saline spray.

Water relations and photosynthetic characteristics of plants of Lycium nodosum grown under increasing water deficit (WD), saline spray (SS) or saline irrigation (SI) were studied. Plants of this perennial, deciduous shrub growing in the coastal thorn scrubs of Venezuela show succulent leaves which persist for approx. 1 month after the beginning of the dry season; leaf succulence is higher in populations closer to the sea. These observations suggested that L. nodosum is tolerant both to WD and salinity. In the glasshouse, WD caused a marked decrease in the xylem water potential (psi), leaf osmotic potential (psi(s)) and relative water content (RWC) after 21 d; additionally, photosynthetic rate (A), carboxylation efficiency (CE) and stomatal conductance (gs) decreased by more than 90 %. In contrast, in plants treated for 21 d with a foliar spray with 35 per thousand NaCl or irrigation with a 10 % NaCl solution, psi and RWC remained nearly constant, while psi(s) decreased by 30 %, and A, CE and gs decreased by more than 80 %. An osmotic adjustment of 0.60 (SS) and 0.94 MPa (SI) was measured. Relative stomatal and mesophyll limitations to A increased with both WD and SS, but were not determined for SI-treated plants. No evidence of chronic photoinhibition due to any treatment was observed, since maximum quantum yield of PSII, Fv/Fm, did not change with either drought in the field or water or salinity stress in the glasshouse. Nevertheless, WD and SI treatments caused a decrease in the photochemical (qP) and an increase in the non-photochemical (qN) quenching coefficients relative to controls; qN was unaffected by the SS treatment. The occurrence of co-limitation of A by stomatal and non-stomatal factors in plants of L. nodosum may be associated with the extended leaf duration under water or saline stress. Additionally, osmotic adjustment may partly explain the relative maintenance of A and gs in the SS and SI treatments and the tolerance to salinity of plants of this species in coastal habitats.

Lack of downregulation of photosynthesis in a tropical root crop, cassava, grown under an elevated CO2 concentration.

We evaluated the effects of an elevated [CO2] on photosynthesis and growth of cassava plants grown in open-top chambers with an adequate supply of water and N and a sufficient rooting volume. Cassava plants (Manihot esculenta Crantz. cv. Motilona) showed higher photosynthetic rates (Pn) when grown and measured at elevated [CO2] (680 µmol mol-1) than when grown and measured at ambient [CO2] (480 µmol mol-1). No downregulation of photosynthesis due to elevated [CO2] was found, since carboxylation efficiency increased after 220 d in spite of a decrease in leaf soluble protein, Rubisco, and leaf N content. Soluble sugar and starch contents decreased with time under elevated [CO2], the decrease in starch content coinciding with the beginning of the increase in root mass. Canopy Pn by leaf area decreased with time under elevated [CO2] but, when canopy Pn was expressed by ground area, higher and constant rates were observed, suggesting a higher productivity in plants grown at elevated [CO2]. The absence of differences between growth [CO2] in root : shoot ratio observed suggests that elevated [CO2], while causing increases in the shoot as well as the root, did not affect the pattern of biomass allocation. Acclimation responses of gas exchange parameters changed during the experiment. The absence of downregulation of photosynthesis was associated with a decrease in leaf sugar and starch contents of plants grown at elevated [CO2], which suggests a favourable source/sink relationship.

Efecto de la concentración elevada de CO² sobre la fotosíntesis en especies tropicales / Effect of high CO² concentration upon photosyntesis in tropical species

La gran cantidad de información acerca de los efectos de un incremento experimental de la [CO²] de cultivo sobre la fisiología de plantas de zonas templadas contrasta con la reducida información disponible para plantas tropicales. En atención a ello, se estudiaron las respuestas fotosintéticas a [CO²] elevadas de plantas que crecen en Venezuela. Se cultivaron plantas de cuatro especies xerófitas bajo una [CO²] elevada, para elucidar el efecto de ésta sobre la fotosíntesis y el uso de agua de especies que normalmente enfrentan déficit hídricos. La fotosíntesis aumentó alrededor de 3,5 veces y la [CO²] elevada retrasó la disminución de la tasa fotosintética en sequía. Dado que en muchos estudios se ha encontrado que el estímulo inicial de la fotosíntesis por una [CO²] elevada desaparace en el tiempo debido a las limitaciones de sumidero de asimilados, hicimos un estudio del efecto de la [CO²] elevada sobre la fotosíntesis de plantas de yuca cultivadas sin limitaciones de suelo, encontrando que la tasa fotosintética no disminuyó durante todo el ciclo de cultivo. La existencia de un sumidero grande (la raiz) unida a una gran disponibilidad de sustrato, permitió que la estimulación de la tasa fotosintética por la [CO²] elevada continuara en el tiempo. Se evaluó el efecto de [CO²] muy altas sobre la fotosíntesis de plantas silvestres que crecen alrededor de emanaciones naturales, encontrándose que tales concentraciones no sólo no inhiben la tasa fotosintética, sino que la promueven muy por encima de la de los controles