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Theoretical and Experimental Plant Physiology, Volume: 25, Número: 3, Publicado: 2013
  • Agriculture, plant physiology, and human population growth: past, present, and future Opinion

    Taiz, Lincoln
  • Artificial photosynthesis Opinion

    Gust, Devens; Moore, Thomas A.; Moore, Ana L.
  • Brassinosteroid analogue affects the senescence in two papaya genotypes submitted to drought stress Research Article

    Gomes, Mara de Menezes de Assis; Torres Netto, Alena; Campostrini, Eliemar; Bressan-Smith, Ricardo; Zullo, Marco António Teixeira; Ferraz, Tiago Massi; Siqueira, Luciane do Nascimento; Leal, Nilton Rocha; Núñez-Vázquez, Miriam

    Resumo em Inglês:

    Brassinosteroids (BS) application is associated with the increase of tolerance to some kinds of stresses, such as those induced by the infection of pathogens, temperature, salt and water deficiency. In this work, the influence of a spirostanic analogue of brassinosteroid (SAB) in the leaves of papaya Golden and UENF/CALIMAN 01 (UC 01) was tested to evaluate alterations in the content of chlorophyll in plants submitted to drought stress (DS). When plants were 70 d old, SAB was applied (0,1 mg L-1) for five consecutive days in half of the plants meant for the experiment. The treatments were: control irrigated (I), I with SAB (IB), DS and DS with SAB (DSB). The evaluated leaves were marked in accordance to the age: LEAF 1 (youngest expanded leaf), LEAF 2 (insertion immediately below LEAF 1) and LEAF 3 (insertion immediately below LEAF 2). The same leaves were used throughtout the experimental period. After the thirteenth day, the chlorophyll contents of DSB (Golden and UC 01) were always lesser than the treatment DS in LEAF 2. The irrigation was restarted in stressed plants on the fifteenth day, followed by new application of SAB (IB and DSB treatments). In Golden plants, DSB showed the lowest values of chlorophyll contents after re-watering, while in UC 01, differences in chlorophyll contents between treatments DS and DSB had not occurred. Alterations in Fv/Fm relation did not occur among the treatments during stress. In genotype UC 01, the irrigated plants showed minor values of Fv/Fm at the end of the experiment, whereas the plants submitted to DS presented increments in this relation in this same time. These results indicate that SAB might have contributed to accelerate the rate of leaf senescence of the oldest leaves of stressed plants, redistributing photoassimilates and other compounds for the youngest leaves.
  • Leaf Equivalent Water Thickness assessment using reflectance at optimum wavelengths Research Article

    Mobasheri, Mohammad Reza; Fatemi, Sayyed Bagher

    Resumo em Inglês:

    Leaf water content is an important parameter in environmental monitoring. The present study investigated the relation between leaf Equivalent Water Thickness (EWT) as a parameter to estimate the leaf water content and the reflectance in 400-2,500 nm spectral range. The data used were the well-known Leaf Optical Properties Experiment 93 (LOPEX93) field collected data. Four hundred leaf samples were used, 320 of which for modelling and the remaining 80 for testing the model. Four different approaches were investigated in this study: 1) linear regression between reflectance in individual wavelength and EWT; 2) the difference of reflectance in two wavelengths and EWT; 3) ratio of reflectance in two wavelengths and EWT; and finally 4) the normalized difference of reflectance in two different wavelengths and EWT. The results showed that the band combinations such as ratio and normalized difference had higher regressions with leaf water content. In addition, the findings of this study showed that some parts of the near infrared (NIR) and short wave infrared (SWIR) of the spectrum provided higher accuracies in EWT assessment, and correlations of more than 90% were achieved. Finally, this investigation showed that a wide range of wavelengths could be used for EWT assessment task. Despite the general belief in using water absorption bands for leaf water content assessment, this study shows that water absorption bands are not necessarily productive as other wavelengths have the potential to generate better results.
  • Interaction of polyamine on oxidative stress induced by exogenously applied hydrogen peroxide in Salvinia natans Linn Research Article

    Mandal, Chiranjib; Ghosh, Nirmalya; Adak, Malay Kumar; Dey, Narottam

    Resumo em Inglês:

    A hydroponics experiment was carried out to study the role of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) through changes of oxidative stress and antioxidation activity in Salvinia natans Linn. H2O2 is an active oxygen species, widely generated in many biological systems, and mediates various physiological and biochemical processes in plants. In this study, we demonstrated that exogenous H2O2 causes the degradation of pigments and induces the oxidative stress and the antioxidation activity. These effects enhanced with increments of applied H2O2 concentration. Application of polyamine reduced the generation and the accumulation of H2O2 and modulated the enzyme activities.
  • Physiological limitations in two sugarcane varieties under water suppression and after recovering Research Article

    Medeiros, David Barbosa; Silva, Elizamar Ciríaco da; Nogueira, Rejane Jurema Mansur Custódio; Teixeira, Marcelo Menossi; Buckeridge, Marcos Silveira

    Resumo em Inglês:

    Increasing water scarcity and depleted water productivity in irrigated soils are inducing farmers to adopt improved varieties, such as those with high-capacity tolerance. The use of tolerant varieties of sugarcane might substantially avoid the decline of productivity under water deficit. This research aimed to evaluate the harmful effects of drought on the physiology of two sugarcane varieties (RB867515 and RB962962) during the initial development. Young plants were subjected to irrigation suspension until total stomata closure, and then rewatered. Significant reduction on stomatal conductance, transpiration, and net photosynthesis were observed. RB867515 showed a faster stomatal closure while RB962962 slowed the effects of drought on the gas exchanges parameters with a faster recovering after rewatering. Accumulation of carbohydrates, amino acids, proline, and protein in the leaves and roots of the stressed plants occurred in both varieties, substantially linked to reduction of the leaf water potential. Due to the severity of stress, this accumulation was not enough to maintain the cell turgor pressure, so relative water content was diminished. Water stress affected the contents of chlorophyll (a, b, and total) in both varieties, but not the levels of carotenoids. There was a significant reduction in dry matter under stress. In conclusion, RB962962 variety endured stressed conditions more than RB867515, since it slowed down the damaging effects of drought on the gas exchanges. In addition, RB962962 presented a faster recovery than RB867515, a feature that qualifies it as a variety capable of enduring short periods of drought without major losses in the initial stage of its development.
  • Involvement of brassinosteroids and ethylene in the control of mitochondrial electron transport chain in postharvest papaya fruit Research Article

    Mazorra, Luis Miguel; Oliveira, Marcos Goes; Souza, Anderson Fernandes; Silva, Willian Batista da; Santos, Gláucia Michelle dos; Silva, Lígia Renata Almeida da; Silva, Marcelo Gomes da; Bartoli, Carlos Guillermo; Oliveira, Jurandi Gonçalves de

    Resumo em Inglês:

    The plant hormones brassinosteroids (BR) and ethylene (ET) act together to regulate plant metabolism. We used BR and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP, an ET action inhibitor) to elucidate the interactions between both hormones for the regulation of mitochondrial respiratory pathways in papaya fruit. The exogenous application of the 24-epibrassinolide (epiBR) enhanced the alternative oxidase (AOX) capacity. While treatment with Brz2001 (Brz is a specific inhibitor of the BR synthesis) also enhanced AOX capacity, these effects lacked in fruit treated simultaneously with epiBR and Brz. Changing the BR level had no effect on ET emission rate in the first 24 h, but a reduction in ET emission was observed in Brz-treated fruit on the fifth day. Together with Brz, epiBR increased the ET production on the fifth day, following the day in which the treatment was carried out. When the ET sensitivity of fruit was inhibited by the application of 1-MCP, the effects of epiBR and Brz were opposite to those obtained without 1-MCP. AOX capacity was slightly inhibited by epiBR in fruit pre-treated with 1-MCP. Data suggest that BR and ET act antagonistically, therefore regulating, directly or indirectly, AOX capacity during papaya fruit ripening.
  • Detection of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase activity in seeds of Stylosanthes humilis H.B.K Research Article

    Barros, Raimundo Santos; Pinheiro, Frank James Araújo; Müller, Caroline; Pires, Marcel Viana; Silva, Alexei Gresta Vieira da; Ribeiro, Dimas Mendes

    Resumo em Inglês:

    The activity of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase (ACO) was characterized in seeds of the tropical legume Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis) both in vitro (desalted extract of non-dormant seeds) and in vivo (entire dormant seeds). Optimum conditions for maximum in vitro ACO activity in a Trizma-HCl 100 mM buffered medium were: pH 7.0, temperature 32ºC and cofactors and co-substrate at the following concentrations: NaHCO3 30 mM, sodium ascorbate 30 mM and FeSO4 50 µM. Rates of in vitro reaction catalyzed by ACO were shown to be constant within the interval 15-150 minutes from the onset of the reaction. The apparent Km for in vitro ACO, as determined from the non-linear curve fitting to the Michaelis-Menten equation, was 156±8.3 µM ACC with a Vmax 5.4±0.08 mmol (ET) g-1 h-1 on a fresh matter (FM) basis. In vivo (control basal medium: HCl-KOH 10 mM pH 7.0, 30ºC, reaction time 15 hours) apparent Km was 230±27 µM ACC and Vmax 11.9±0.38 mmol (ET) g-1.h-1 on a FM basis. These data suggest that the enzyme exhibits a relatively low affinity for the substrate. The well-known inhibitors of ACO activity, α-aminoisobutyric acid, salicylic and acetylsalicylic acids, n-propylgallate and cobaltous ions, were highly effective in inhibiting ACO activity of Townsville stylo seeds.
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