Abstract
This study investigated photosynthetic and oxidative stress-related responses to moderate (500 μmol photons m−2 s−1) and high irradiances (1500 μmol photons m−2 s−1) in two tropical intertidal seagrasses, Halophila ovalis and Thalassia hemprichii. Exposure to high irradiance for 3 h resulted in a large decline in the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) and in the effective quantum yield of photosystem II (ΦPSII) but induced non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and chloroplast clumping in H. ovalis. Thalassia hemprichii, however, showed only a minor decrease in Fv/Fm and ΦPSII, and no change in either NPQ or the intracellular arrangement of chloroplasts. The irradiance did not affect reactive oxygen species (ROS) or superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in either seagrass, whereas high irradiance enhanced ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity in H. ovalis. The results from a subsequent experiment using an oxidative stress inducer, methyl viologen (MV), also showed a higher degree of Fv/Fm inhibition in H. ovalis. These results show that H. ovalis is much more physiologically responsive to high irradiances and oxidative stress than T. hemprichii and that its photoprotective mechanisms involve NPQ, APX and reduction of the amount of light absorbed through the clumping of its chloroplasts.
About the authors
Surangkana Phandee is a Master’s student in botany at Prince of Songkla University. She is currently receiving a scholarship from the government of Thailand under the Development and Promotion of Science and Technology Talents Project (DPST) to pursue her study in plant physiology. She conducted this study as an Honours project under Dr. Pimchanok Buapet’s supervision.
Pimchanok Buapet is a lecturer and researcher at the Department of Biology, Prince of Songkla University. She earned a PhD in 2014 from Stockholm University in plant physiology by studying the photosynthesis of the seagrass Zostera marina and other macrophytes. Her research interest is ecophysiology of marine plants, in particular, the mechanisms which seagrasses in the upper-intertidal areas employ to protect their photosynthetic apparatus from high light intensity and desiccation.
Acknowledgements
This project was financially supported by the Research Fund for DPST Graduates with First Placement Fiscal Year 2014 awarded by the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST) for PB (grant no. 16/2557, Mentor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anchana Prathep). Partial funding was supported by the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University and the Development and Promotion of Science and Technology Talents Project (DPST) for SP. Finally, the authors acknowledge Anna Chatthong, Dr. Seppo Karrila and the RDO of PSU for assistance with the English proofreading.
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