Acceso usuarios
Olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is commonly grown under environmental conditions characterised by water deficit, high temperatures and irradiance levels typical of Mediterranean semi-arid regions. Measurement of gas exchange, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence and photoinhibition was carried out on two-year-old olive trees (cv. �Coratina�) subjected to a 21-day period of water deficit followed by 23 days of rewatering. At the beginning of the experiment, plants were divided in to two groups and subjected to different light regimes: exposed plants (EP) under a mean photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) at mid-day of 1800 µmol m-2 s-1 and shaded plants (SP) under a mean PAR of 1200 µmol m-2 s-1. The effect of drought and high irradiance levels caused a reduction of gas exchange and photosystem 2 (PSII) efficiency, in terms of quantum yield of PSII (FPSII) both in EP and SP. Shading conditions allowed plants to maintain a high photosynthetic activity at low values of stomatal conductance, whereas in EP the reductions in photosynthetic efficiency and intrinsic water efficiency were due to non-stomatal components of photosynthesis. The decrease in photosynthetic activity and the increase of photoinhibition under drought were more marked in EP than in SP. Full sunlight caused in EP a higher non-photochemical quenching, whereas SP showed a better photochemical efficiency. The information here obtained can be important to understand the mechanisms by which olive plants can minimize photoinhibition when subjected to simultaneous abiotic stresses.
