Authors: S Ait Said F Torre A Derridj T Gauquelin J P Mevy
Publish Date: 2016/06/03
Volume: 51, Issue: 4, Pages: 552-564
Abstract
In this work photosystem II PSII photochemistry leaf water potential and pigment contents of male and female Pistacia lentiscus L were investigated during a seasonal cycle at three different arid locations superior semiarid inferior semiarid and arid The results showed that the gender season and the site conditions interacted to influence the quantum yield and pigment contents in P lentiscus Predawn leaf water status was determined only by the site and season The annual patterns of PSII maximum quantum efficiency Fv/Fm were characterized by a suboptimal activity during the winter especially populations with the more negative water potential exhibited a lower chlorophyll Chl a content and chronic photoinhibition irrespective of a gender We also demonstrated that both photochemical or nonphotochemical mechanisms were involved to avoid the photoinhibition and both of them depended on the season This plasticity of photosynthetic machinery was accompanied by changes in carotenoids and Chl balance In the spring the female Fv/Fm ratio was significantly higher than in male individuals when the sexual dimorphism occurred during the fruiting stage regardless of site conditions P lentiscus sexratio in Mediterranean areas where precipitations exceeded 500 mm was potentially femalebiased Among the fluorescence parameters investigated nonphotochemical quenching coefficient appeared as the most useful one and a correlation was found between Chl a content and Fv/Fm These results suggest that functional ecology studies would be possible on a large scale through light reflectance analysis
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