Salt stress slows down dynamic photosynthesis mainly through osmotic
effects on dynamic stomatal behavior
Abstract
Salt stress affects stomatal behavior and photosynthesis, by a
combination of osmotic and ionic components, but it is unknown how these
components affect photosynthesis dynamics under fluctuating light.
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants were grown using a reference
nutrient solution (Control, EC: 2.3 dS m-1), the reference containing
extra macronutrients (only osmotic effect; EC: 12.6 dS m-1), or the
reference containing an additional 100 mM NaCl (osmotic and ionic
effects; EC: 12.8 dS m-1). Steady-state and dynamic photosynthesis along
with leaf biochemistry were characterized throughout leaf development.
Osmotic effects resulted in increased leaf chlorophyll content per unit
leaf area, induced stomatal closure along with rapid stomatal responses
to changes in light intensity, and limited dynamic but not steady-state
photosynthesis. Ionic effects were barely observed in plant growth and
dynamic photosynthesis, but led to a reduction in leaf chlorophyll
content and photosynthetic capacity in old leaves. Steady-state and
dynamic photosynthesis traits decreased with leaf age, due to increases
in stomatal and non-stomatal limitations. With increasing leaf age,
rates of light-triggered stomatal movement decreased across treatments,
which is more strongly for stomatal opening rather than closure. We
conclude that osmotic effect strongly impacts dynamic stomatal and
photosynthetic behavior under salt stress.