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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Two distinct strategies of cotton and soybean differing in leaf movement to perform photosynthesis under drought in the field

Ya-Li Zhang A , Yuan-Yuan Hu A , Hong-Hai Luo A , Wah Soon Chow B and Wang-Feng Zhang A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A The Key Laboratory of Oasis Eco-agriculture, Xinjiang Production and Construction Group, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, PR China.

B Division of Plant Science, Research School of Biology, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: zwf_shzu@163.com

Functional Plant Biology 38(7) 567-575 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP11065
Submitted: 9 March 2011  Accepted: 26 May 2011   Published: 12 July 2011

Abstract

This paper reports an experimental test of the hypothesis that cotton and soybean differing in leaf movement have distinct strategies to perform photosynthesis under drought. Cotton and soybean were exposed to two water regimes: drought stressed and well watered. Drought-stressed cotton and soybean had lower maximum CO2 assimilation rates than well-watered (control) plants. Drought reduced the light saturation point and photorespiration of both species – especially in soybean. Area-based leaf nitrogen decreased in drought-stressed soybean but increased in drought-stressed cotton. Drought decreased PSII quantum yield (ΦPSII) in soybean leaves, but increased ΦPSII in cotton leaves. Drought induced an increase in light absorbed by the PSII antennae that is dissipated thermally via ΔpH- and xanthophylls-regulated processes in soybean leaves, but a decrease in cotton leaves. Soybean leaves appeared to have greater cyclic electron flow (CEF) around PSI than cotton leaves and drought further increased CEF in soybean leaves. In contrast, CEF slightly decreased in cotton under drought. These results suggest that the difference in leaf movement between cotton and soybean leaves gives rise to different strategies to perform photosynthesis and to contrasting photoprotective mechanisms for utilisation or dissipation of excess light energy. We suggest that soybean preferentially uses light-regulated non-photochemical energy dissipation, which may have been enhanced by the higher CEF in drought-stressed leaves. In contrast, cotton appears to rely on enhanced electron transport flux for light energy utilisation under drought, for example, in enhanced nitrogen assimilation.

Additional keywords: diaheliotropic, paraheliotropic, photoprotection, water deficit.


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