Abstract
Cuttings from two contrasting Populus cathayana Rehder populations originating from Hanyuan (wet climate) and Ledu (dry climate) in western China were grown in a greenhouse to determine the effects of drought, shade and their interaction on the morphological and physiological traits of leaves. The dry climate population was more droughttolerant than the wet climate population, as indicated by smaller decreases in the leaf relative water content (RWC) and net photosynthetic rate (PN), as well as by greater increases in antioxidative enzyme activities and free proline content under drought. On the other hand, the negative effects of shade on leaf traits were more pronounced in the dry climate population, which suggested that the dry climate population was more light-demanding. In addition, moderate shade alleviated the drought stress of P. cathayana not only by improving the leaf RWC but also by maintaining the positive carbon balance. In contrast, severe shade aggravated drought stress as indicated by a pronounced decrease in leaf size, carbon and nitrogen contents, maximum PN, free proline content and antioxidative enzyme activities.
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Abbreviations
- APX:
-
ascorbate peroxidase
- CAT:
-
catalase
- Cmass:
-
leaf carbon content per mass
- GPX:
-
guaiacol peroxidase
- LCP:
-
light compensation point
- LS:
-
leaf size
- Nmass:
-
leaf nitrogen content per mass
- PN:
-
net photosynthetic rate
- PNmax:
-
maximum photosynthetic rate
- PNUE:
-
photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency
- Rd:
-
dark respiration rate
- RWC:
-
relative water content
- SLA:
-
specific leaf area (leaf mass/area ratio)
- SOD:
-
superoxide dismutase
- TLA:
-
total leaf area
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Acknowledgements: The research was supported by the Outstanding Young Scientist Program of the National Science Foundation of China (no. 30525036) and the Program of “Knowledge Innovation Engineering“ of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KSCX2-YW-N-064).
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Huang, X., Xiao, X., Zhang, S. et al. Leaf morphological and physiological responses to drought and shade in two Populus cathayana populations. Biol Plant 53, 588–592 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-009-0107-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-009-0107-y