Influence of Drought Acclimation and CO2 Enrichment on Osmotic Adjustment and Chlorophyll a Fluorescence of Sunflower during Drought

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Osmotic adjustment occurred during drought in expanded leaves of sunflowers (Helianthus annuus var Hysun 30) which had been continuously exposed to 660 microliters CO2 per liter or had been previously acclimated to drought. The effect was greatest when the treatments were combined and was negligible in nonacclimated plants grown at 340 microliters CO2 per liter. The concentrations of ethanol soluble sugars and potassium increased during drought but they did not account for the osmotic adjustment. The delay in the decline in conductance and relative water content and in the loss of structural integrity with increasing drought was dependent on the degree of osmotic adjustment. Where it was greatest, conductance fell from 5.8 millimeters per second on the first day of drought to 1.3 millimeters per second on the fourth day and was at approximately the same level on the eighth day. The relative water content remained constant at 85% for three days and fell to 36% on the sixth day. There was no evidence of leaf desiccation even on the eighth day. In contrast, the conductance of leaves showing minimal adjustment fell rapidly after the first day of drought and was negligible after the fourth, at which time the relative water content was 36%. By the sixth day of drought, areas near the margins of the leaves were desiccating and the plants did not recover upon rewatering. Despite the differences in the rate of change of conductance and relative water content during drought, photosynthetic electron transport activity, inferred from measurements of chlorophyll a fluorescence in vivo and PSII activity of isolated thylakoids, remained functional until desiccation occurred.

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