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Ozone tolerance in snap bean is associated with elevated ascorbic acid in the leaf apoplast.
Kent O Burkey1, Gwendolyn Eason
1United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Box 7631 North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7631, USA Department of Crop Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7631, USA Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7631, USA.
Physiologia Plantarum
|June 13, 2002
Summary
Ascorbic acid (AA) in plant leaves can protect against ozone damage. While higher extracellular AA correlated with ozone tolerance in controlled settings, this link was unclear under elevated ozone exposure in field conditions.
Area of Science:
- Plant Physiology
- Environmental Stress Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Ascorbic acid (AA) in the leaf apoplast is a key antioxidant, detoxifying ozone and reactive oxygen species to prevent cellular damage.
- Ozone pollution poses a significant threat to plant health, impacting crop yields and ecosystem function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between extracellular ascorbic acid (AA) content and ozone tolerance in snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L) genotypes.
- To assess how controlled versus field conditions influence this relationship.
Main Methods:
- Utilized vacuum infiltration to fractionate leaf AA into extracellular and intracellular components.
- Compared snap bean genotypes under controlled low-ozone conditions and in open-top chambers with ambient and elevated ozone levels.
Main Results:
- In controlled environments with low ozone, tolerant snap bean genotypes exhibited significantly higher apoplast AA levels than sensitive genotypes.
- Under elevated ozone in field chambers, apoplast AA levels were similar across genotypes, showing no correlation with ozone tolerance.
- Contrasting results highlight limitations in interpreting steady-state apoplast AA measurements under high ozone stress.
Conclusions:
- Elevated extracellular AA is associated with ozone tolerance under optimal conditions.
- Steady-state apoplast AA measurements may not accurately reflect ozone detoxification capacity under high ozone stress due to dynamic AA supply and utilization.
- Further research is needed to understand the complex interplay of AA dynamics in plant ozone tolerance.