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Journal of Experimental Botany 2007 58(13):3581-3590; doi:10.1093/jxb/erm206
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© 2007 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)

RESEARCH PAPER

Effect of cold acclimation on the photosynthetic performance of two ecotypes of Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl.

León A. Bravo1,*, Felipe A. Saavedra-Mella1, Felipe Vera1, Alexi Guerra1, Lohengrin A. Cavieres1, Alexander G. Ivanov2, Norman P. A. Huner2 and Luis J. Corcuera1

1Departamento de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Correo 3, Concepción, Chile
2Department of Biology and The Biotron, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: lebravo{at}udec.cl

The effects of cold acclimation of two ecotypes (Antarctic and Andes) of Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl. Caryophyllaceae on their photosynthetic characteristics and performance under high light (HL) were compared. Non-acclimated plants of the Antarctic ecotype exhibited a higher (34%) maximal rate of photosynthesis than the Andes ecotype. In cold-acclimated plants the light compensation point was increased. Dark respiration was significantly increased during the exposure to 4 °C in both ecotypes. Cold-acclimated Antarctic plants showed higher {Phi}PSII and qP compared with the Andes ecotype. In addition, the Antarctic ecotype exhibited higher heat dissipation (NPQ), especially in the cold-acclimated state, which was mainly associated with the fast relaxing component of non-photochemical quenching (NPQF). By contrast, the Andes ecotype exhibited a lower NPQF and a significant increase in the slowly relaxing component (NPQs) at low temperature and HL, indicating higher sensitivity to low temperature-induced photoinhibition. Although the xanthophyll cycle was fully operational in both ecotypes, cold-acclimated Antarctic plants exposed to HL exhibited higher epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle pigments (EPS) compared with the cold-acclimated Andes ecotype. Thus, the photosynthetic apparatus of the Antarctic ecotype operates more efficiently than that of the Andes one, under a combination of low temperature and HL. The ecotype differences are discussed in relation to the different climatic conditions of the two Colobanthus.

Key words: Antarctic plants, heat dissipation, low temperature, non-photochemical quenching, photoinhibition, photosynthesis

Received 27 April 2007; Revised 31 July 2007 Accepted 6 August 2007


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