Limitations to photosynthesis of lettuce grown under tropical conditions: Alleviation by root-zone cooling

Abstract

Aerial parts of lettuce plants were grown under natural tropical fluctuating ambient temperatures, but with their roots exposed to two different root-zone temperatures (RZTs): a constant 20 °C-RZT and a fluctuating ambient (A-) RZT from 23-40 °C. Plants grown at A-RZT showed lower photosynthetic CO2 assimilation (A), stomatal conductance (gs), midday leaf relative water content (RWC), and chlorophyll fluorescence ratio Fv/Fm than 20 °C-RZT plants on both sunny and cloudy days. Substantial midday depression of A and gs occurred on both sunny and cloudy days in both RZT treatments, although Fv/Fm did not vary diurnally on cloudy days. Reciprocal temperature transfer experiments investigated the occurrence and possible causes of stomatal and non-stomatal limitations of photosynthesis. For both temperature transfers, light-saturated stomatal conductance (gs sat) and photosynthetic CO2 assimilation (Asat) were highly correlated with each other and with midday RWC, suggesting that A was limited by water stress-mediated stomatal closure. However, prolonged growth at A-RZT reduced light- and CO2-saturated photosynthetic O2 evolution (Pmax), indicating non-stomatal limitation of photosynthesis. Tight temporal coupling of leaf nitrogen content and Pmax during both temperature transfers suggested that decreased nutrient status caused this non-stomatal limitation of photosynthesis.