The aim of the work was to study the effect of oxygen deficiency at root level on the photosynthetic characteristics of spinach leaves. Spinach plants (Spinacia oleracea L.) were grown for 40 days in hydroponic culture at a photon flux density (PFD) of 200 µmol/(m2·s). During the first 30 days of cultivation, the nutrient solution was bubbled with air that saturates the medium with oxygen to a concentration of about 8 mg/L. On the 31st day of cultivation, aeration of the nutrient medium in the experimental variant was stopped, after that hypoxia spontaneously occurred in the solution approximately 8—12 hours later, and the oxygen content decreased to < 1.5 mg/L. It was shown that root hypoxia caused a significant decrease in the leaves pigments content: chlorophyll (Chl) a — by 25 %, Chl b — by 15 %, carotenoids — by 17 %, while the ratio Chl a/b in the experimental variant decreased to 2.55 compared to the control (2.94), which indicates an increase in the relative content of Chl b under stress conditions. To assess the functional state of photosynthetic apparatus, the maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm), the quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry at the light-adapted state (F'v/F'm) and the real quantum yield of electron transport (jPSII) were determined, as well as levels of photochemical (qP) and non-photochemical (qN, NPQ) fluorescence quenching. Values of stationary fluorescence (Fs), normalized to dark-adapted basal values (Fo), were used as an indicator of the root hypoxia effect on the stomatal conductance of spinach leaves. It is shown that the consequence of the stress caused by the lack of oxygen in the root zone is a decrease in the maximum quantum yield, as well as the F'v/F'm and jФСII parameters at a low PFD of actinic light. No significant differences in the qP, qN, NPQ and Fs/F0 parameters between the control and experimental variants were found at the PFD of actinic light of 200, 600 and 1000 µmol/(m2 · s). The obtained data indicate that moderate hypoxia stress in hydroponic culture of spinach leads to a decrease in the content of pigments and partial damage to the photosynthetic apparatus.
Keywords: Spinacia oleracea, hydroponics, photosynthesis, root hypoxia, chlorophyll, carotenoids, chlorophyll fluorescence
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