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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2016, Vol. 15 Issue (1): 87-100    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(15)61202-3
Physiology·Biochemistry·Cultivation·Tillage Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Blue light is more essential than red light for maintaining the activities of photosystem II and I and photosynthetic electron transport capacity in cucumber leaves
 MIAO Yan-xiu, WANG Xiao-zhuo, GAO Li-hong, CHEN Qing-yun, QU Mei
Beijing Key Laboratory of Growth and Developmental Regulation for Protected Vegetable Crops, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R.China
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摘要  Blue and red lights differently regulate leaf photosynthesis. Previous studies indicated that plants under blue light generally exhibit better photosynthetic characteristics than those under red light. However, the regulation mechanism of related photosynthesis characteristics remains largely unclear. Here, four light qualities treatments (300 μmol m–2 s–1) including white fluorescent light (FL), blue monochromatic light (B, 440 nm), red monochromatic light (R, 660 nm), and a combination of red and blue light (RB, R:B=8:1) were carried out to investigate their effects on the activity of photosystem II (PSII) and photosystem I (PSI), and photosynthetic electron transport capacity in the leaves of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings. The results showed that compared to the FL treatment, the R treatment significantly limited electron transport rate in PSII (ETRII) and in PSI (ETRI) by 79.4 and 66.3%, respectively, increased non-light induced non-photochemical quenching in PSII (ΦNO) and limitation of donor side in PSI (ΦND) and reduced most JIP-test parameters, suggesting that the R treatment induced suboptimal activity of photosystems and inhibited electron transport from PSII donor side up to PSI. However, these suppressions were effectively alleviated by blue light addition (RB). Compared with the R treatment, the RB treatment significantly increased ETRII and ETRI by 176.9 and 127.0%, respectively, promoted photosystems activity and enhanced linear electron transport by elevating electron transport from QA to PSI. The B treatment plants exhibited normal photosystems activity and photosynthetic electron transport capacity similar to that of the FL treatment. It was concluded that blue light is more essential than red light for normal photosynthesis by mediating photosystems activity and photosynthetic electron transport capacity.

Abstract  Blue and red lights differently regulate leaf photosynthesis. Previous studies indicated that plants under blue light generally exhibit better photosynthetic characteristics than those under red light. However, the regulation mechanism of related photosynthesis characteristics remains largely unclear. Here, four light qualities treatments (300 μmol m–2 s–1) including white fluorescent light (FL), blue monochromatic light (B, 440 nm), red monochromatic light (R, 660 nm), and a combination of red and blue light (RB, R:B=8:1) were carried out to investigate their effects on the activity of photosystem II (PSII) and photosystem I (PSI), and photosynthetic electron transport capacity in the leaves of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings. The results showed that compared to the FL treatment, the R treatment significantly limited electron transport rate in PSII (ETRII) and in PSI (ETRI) by 79.4 and 66.3%, respectively, increased non-light induced non-photochemical quenching in PSII (ΦNO) and limitation of donor side in PSI (ΦND) and reduced most JIP-test parameters, suggesting that the R treatment induced suboptimal activity of photosystems and inhibited electron transport from PSII donor side up to PSI. However, these suppressions were effectively alleviated by blue light addition (RB). Compared with the R treatment, the RB treatment significantly increased ETRII and ETRI by 176.9 and 127.0%, respectively, promoted photosystems activity and enhanced linear electron transport by elevating electron transport from QA to PSI. The B treatment plants exhibited normal photosystems activity and photosynthetic electron transport capacity similar to that of the FL treatment. It was concluded that blue light is more essential than red light for normal photosynthesis by mediating photosystems activity and photosynthetic electron transport capacity.
Keywords:  cucumber       photosystem II       photosystem I       electron transport  
Received: 08 June 2015   Accepted:
Fund: 

This work was supported by the Special Fund for Nonprofit Industry (Agriculture) Research Project (201303014) and Earmarked Fund for Beijing Fruit Vegetable Innovation Team Project of Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System (GCTDZJ2014033007) in China.

Corresponding Authors:  CHEN Qing-yun, Tel: +86-10-62733424,+86-991-8768084, E-mail: caucqy@163.com; QU Mei, Tel: +86-10-62732832, E-mail: qumei@cau.edu.cn     E-mail:  caucqy@163.com;qumei@cau.edu.cn
About author:  MIAO Yan-xiu, Tel: +86-10-62733759, E-mail: miaoyanxiu@163.com;

Cite this article: 

MIAO Yan-xiu, WANG Xiao-zhuo, GAO Li-hong, CHEN Qing-yun, QU Mei. 2016. Blue light is more essential than red light for maintaining the activities of photosystem II and I and photosynthetic electron transport capacity in cucumber leaves. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 15(1): 87-100.

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