Ozone and desiccation tolerance in chlorolichens are intimately connected: a case study based on two species with...

Tropospheric ozone (O₃) causes severe damage to many vascular plants but not to lichens. It was recently suggested that this may be due to their high levels of natural defences against the oxidative bursts associated to their fluctuating water content. In this study, the combined effects of watering regime (with or without a daily spray of distilled water), air relative humidity (20 ± 5 vs. 80 ± 5% RH) and O₃ (250 vs. 0 ppb, 5 h day^-1 for 2 weeks) were monitored in two chlorolichens with different ecology, Parmotrema perlatum and Xanthoria parietina. Modulated chlorophyll a fluorescence (Chl _a F), superoxide anion radical (O₂^•-) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) production, antioxidant content and enzyme activity of the ascorbate/glutathione cycle were measured after exposure and, for Chl _a F, after 1 and 2 days of recovery. The species differed in the antioxidant profile (ascorbate was higher in X. parietina, glutathione in P. perlatum), and in the activity of ROS-scavenging enzymes, more intense in the hygrophilous P. perlatum than in the meso-xerophilous X. parietina. O₃ slightly modified Chl _a F parameters related to the controlled dissipation, with reduction of F_m, F_v/F_m (both species) and ETR (in P. perlatum), and increase in NPQ and qN (in X. parietina). It also influenced, particularly in P. perlatum, the content of H₂O₂, glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) (but not that of O₂^•- and AsA + DHA) and the activity of superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase and dehydroascorbate reductase. These parameters, however, were more heavily affected by water availability. The hypothesis that lichens are O₃-tolerant thanks to the constitutive antioxidant systems, intimately related to their poikilohydric life-style, is thus confirmed.