Skip Navigation



AOBPreview published online on September 27, 2007
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mcm222
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
100/6/1347    most recent
mcm222v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Massonnet, C.
Right arrow Articles by Regnard, J. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Massonnet, C.
Right arrow Articles by Regnard, J. L.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Massonnet, C.
Right arrow Articles by Regnard, J. L.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Stomatal Regulation of Photosynthesis in Apple Leaves: Evidence for Different Water-use Strategies between Two Cultivars

Catherine Massonnet1, Evelyne Costes1, Serge Rambal2, Erwin Dreyer3 and Jean Luc Regnard1,*

1 UMR 1098 Développement et Amélioration des Plantes – Equipe Architecture et Fonctionnement des Espèces Fruitières, INRA – SupAgro, 2 Place Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 1, France
2 UMR 5175, CEFE CNRS – 1919, route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
3 INRA, UMR 1137 INRA-UHP Ecologie et Ecophysiologie Forestières, 54280 Champenoux, France

* For correspondence. E-mail regnard{at}supagro.inra.fr

Received: 28 March 2007    Returned for revision: 3 July 2007    Accepted: 30 July 2007   

Background and Aims: Leaf responses to environmental conditions have been frequently described in fruit trees, but differences among cultivars have received little attention. This study shows that parameters of Farquhar's photosynthesis and Jarvis' stomatal conductance models differed between two apple cultivars, and examines the consequences of these differences for leaf water use efficiency.

Methods: Leaf stomatal conductance (gsw), net CO2 assimilation rate (An), respiration (Rd) and transpiration (E) were measured during summer in 8-year-old ‘Braeburn’ and ‘Fuji’ apple trees under well-watered field conditions. Parameters of Farquhar's and Jarvis' models were estimated, evaluated and then compared between cultivars. Leaf carbon isotope discrimination ({Delta}13C) was measured at the end of the growing season.

Key Results: A single positive relationship was established between VCmax (maximum carboxylation rate) and Na (leaf nitrogen concentration per unit area), and between Jmax (maximum light-driven electron transport rate) and Na. A higher leaf Rd was observed in ‘Fuji’. The gsw responded similarly to increasing irradiance and leaf temperature in both cultivars. gsw responded to lower vapour pressure deficit in ‘Fuji’ than in ‘Braeburn’. Maximal conductance (gswmax) was significantly smaller and An was more limited by gsw in ‘Braeburn’ than ‘Fuji’. Lower gsw, E and higher intrinsic water use efficiency were shown in ‘Braeburn’ and confirmed by smaller leaf {Delta}13C compared with ‘Fuji’ leaves.

Conclusions: The use of functional model parameters allowed comparison of the two cultivars and provided evidence of different water use ‘strategies’: ‘Braeburn’ was more conservative in water use than ‘Fuji’, due to stomatal limitation of An, higher intrinsic water use efficiency and lower {Delta}13C. These physiological traits need to be considered in relation to climate adaptation, breeding of new cultivars and horticultural practice.

Key words: Apple, carbon isotope discrimination, leaf nitrogen, leaf temperature, irradiance, Malus x domestica, modelling, photosynthesis, stomata, transpiration, vapour pressure deficit, water use efficiency


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.