Shifts in the pigment content along an arid altitudinal gradient as a mechanism for regulation of plants photosynthetic capacity in the Gobi
L. A. IVANOV1,2,3, G. TSERENKHAND4, Yu. A. RUPYSHEV5, L. A. IVANOVA1,2
1University of Tyumen, Tyumen, Russia
2Institute Botanical Garden UB RAS, Ekaterinburg, Russia
3A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, Moscow, Russia
4Botanic Garden and Research Institute MAS, Ulan Bator, Mongolia
5Institute of General and Experimental Biology SB RAS, Ulan-Ude, Russia
Keywords: chlorophyll, carotenoids, LMA, photosynthesis, aridity, altitudinal gradient, Mongolia
Abstract
The altitude influence on the pigment composition of plants has been little studied in arid climate. In this work, we studied pigment content along the altitudinal gradient in Gobi, Mongolia. The altitude negatively correlated with climate aridity, which affected the leaf traits. Along the gradient, the thickness and density of photosynthetic organs decreased and the content of chlorophylls (Chl) and carotenoids (Car) increased, while the maximum nett-assimilation and the ratio of Chl a/b and Chl/Car did not change. A decrease in the nitrogen to chlorophyll (N/Chl) ratio with altitude was also revealed, which indicates a change in the ratio between RuBP carboxylase and pigment-protein complexes of thylakoid in the leaf. Despite the simultaneous changes in chlorophyll content and leaf thickness with altitude, the analysis of partial correlations showed that these parameters changed independently of each other. The path analysis confirmed that pigment content and leaf thickness are two independent ways of plant adaptation to habitat. We concluded that changes in the pigment complex of plants with altitude are required to maintain the photosynthetic capacity under changing climate aridity.
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