Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Pearson) plants were grown in growth chambers for 25 days with cadmium (Cd) and then exposed briefly to ozone (O3). Gas exchange, chlorophyll a fluorescence, and pigment composition were analysed in leaves at the end of the treatment to assess the effects of a single pollutant and their combination on photosynthesis. The CO2 assimilation rate was dramatically reduced in plants subjected to the combined treatment, while the single effect of Cd appeared less severe than that of O3. The decline of CO2 photoassimilation found in all O3-exposed plants was attributed to both stomatal and nonstomatal limitations. Tomato plants seemed to detoxify Cd to a great extent, but this resulted in growth suppression. In response to O3 exposure, the plants protected their photosystems by heat dissipation of excess energy via the xanthophyll cycle. Cd combined with O3 affected adversely this cycle resulting in an increase in photosynthetic performance under the same experimental light conditions.
Source: Photosynthetica
Institution: University of Pisa
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: Università di Pisa
OpenAlex ID: W2135987740