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Photosystem II efficiency of the palisade and spongy mesophyll in Quercus coccifera using adaxial/abaxial illumination and excitation light sources with wavelengths varying in penetration into the leaf tissue

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Abstract

The existence of major vertical gradients within the leaf is often overlooked in studies of photosynthesis. These gradients, which involve light heterogeneity, cell composition, and CO2 concentration across the mesophyll, can generate differences in the maximum potential PSII efficiency (F V/F M or F V/F P) of the different cell layers. Evidence is presented for a step gradient of F V/F P ratios across the mesophyll, from the adaxial (palisade parenchyma, optimal efficiencies) to the abaxial (spongy parenchyma, sub-optimal efficiencies) side of Quercus coccifera leaves. For this purpose, light sources with different wavelengths that penetrate more or less deep within the leaf were employed, and measurements from the adaxial and abaxial sides were performed. To our knowledge, this is the first report where a low photosynthetic performance in the abaxial side of leaves is accompanied by impaired F V/F P ratios. This low photosynthetic efficiency of the abaxial side could be related to the occurrence of bundle sheath extensions, which facilitates the penetration of high light intensities deep within the mesophyll. Also, leaf morphology (twisted in shape) and orientation (with a marked angle from the horizontal plane) imply direct sunlight illumination of the abaxial side. The existence of cell layers within leaves with different photosynthetic efficiencies makes appropriate the evaluation of how light penetrates within the mesophyll when using Chl fluorescence or gas exchange techniques that use different wavelengths for excitation and/or for driving photosynthesis.

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Abbreviations

A :

Net CO2 uptake

BSE:

Bundle sheath extensions

Chl:

Chlorophyll

ETR :

Electron transport rate

ΦPSII and Φexc. :

Actual and intrinsic photosystem II efficiencies, respectively

FO and \(F^{\prime}_{O}\):

Minimal Chl fluorescence yield in the dark or during light adaptation, respectively

FM and \(F^{\prime}_{M}\):

Maximal Chl fluorescence yield in the dark or during light adaptation, respectively

F S :

Chl fluorescence at steady-state photosynthesis

F P :

Chl fluorescence at the peak of the continuous fluorescence induction curve

FV and \(F^{\prime}_{V}\):

FM − FO or FP − FO, and \(F^{\prime}_{M}\) − \(F^{\prime}_{O}\), respectively

g S :

Stomatal conductance

NPQ :

Non-photochemical quenching

PPFD:

Photosynthetic photon flux density

PSI and PSII:

Photosystems I and II, respectively

qP :

Photochemical quenching

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by INIA project RTA01-071-C3-1 (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia), and Gobierno de Aragón. Authors acknowledge comments of two anonymous reviewers that largely improved this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unidad de Recursos Forestales, Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria, Gobierno de Aragón, Apdo. 727, 50080, Zaragoza, Spain

    José Javier Peguero-Pina & Eustaquio Gil-Pelegrín

  2. Department of Plant Nutrition, Experimental Station of Aula Dei, CSIC, Apdo. 13034, 50080, Zaragoza, Spain

    Fermín Morales

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  1. José Javier Peguero-Pina
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  2. Eustaquio Gil-Pelegrín
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  3. Fermín Morales
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Correspondence to Fermín Morales.

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Peguero-Pina, J.J., Gil-Pelegrín, E. & Morales, F. Photosystem II efficiency of the palisade and spongy mesophyll in Quercus coccifera using adaxial/abaxial illumination and excitation light sources with wavelengths varying in penetration into the leaf tissue. Photosynth Res 99, 49–61 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-008-9393-z

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