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. 2022 Dec 20;60(4):549-561.
doi: 10.32615/ps.2022.051. eCollection 2022.

Adaptive photosynthetic strategies of the invasive plant Sphagneticola trilobata and its hybrid to a low-light environment

W Q Ke  1 , Y R Pan  1 , L H Chen  1 , J D Huang  1 , J J Zhang  1 , X Y Long  1 , M L Cai  2 , C L Peng  1
Affiliations

Adaptive photosynthetic strategies of the invasive plant Sphagneticola trilobata and its hybrid to a low-light environment

W Q Ke et al. Photosynthetica. .

Abstract

In stressful environments, invasive plants acclimate more efficiently than native plants and hybridization mainly contributes to this process. We examined changes in the morphological characteristics, photosynthetic characteristics, and antioxidant capacity of Sphagneticola trilobata and its hybrids in a low-light environment to explore their invasiveness, with Sphagneticola calendulacea serving as the control. The morphological plasticity of S. trilobata was not dominant, the maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII, actual quantum yield of PSII, and electron transport rate of PSII increased and nonphotochemical quenching decreased, while S. calendulacea and the hybrid produced opposite results. S. trilobata showed fewer spots stained for reactive oxygen species in tissues, with an increase in superoxide dismutase activity. Although S. trilobata is a heliophilous plant, we found that the shade tolerance of S. trilobata and the hybrid were stronger than that of S. calendulacea, which may be one important mechanism of invasion.

Keywords: growth strategy; hybridization; low light; photosynthesis; plant invasion.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Phenotypic characteristics of the three Sphagneticola species at 60 d of cultivation under low light. The main stem length (A), main stem diameter (B), leaf pairs (C), branch number (D), leaf length (E), and leaf width (F) of the three Sphagneticola species under full and low light. The data are shown as the means ± SE of five biological replicates. Asterisks indicate different significant differences (*P<0.05, **P<0.01, and ***P<0.001) according to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Phenotype and relative irradiance of the three Sphagneticola species at 60 d of cultivation under low light. The plant height (A), relative irradiance above leaf (B), and specific leaf area (SLA) (C) of the three Sphagneticola species under full and low light. The data are shown as the means ± SE of five biological replicates. Asterisks indicate different significant differences (*P<0.05, **P<0.01, and ***P<0.001) according to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of the three Sphagneticola species at 60 d of cultivation under low light. The maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) (A), nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) (B), actual quantum yield of PSII (ΦPSII) (C), and electron transport rate of PSII (ETR) (D) of the three Sphagneticola species under full and low light. The data are shown as the means ± SE of five biological replicates. Asterisks indicate different significant differences (*P<0.05, **P<0.01, and ***P<0.001) according to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Tissue localization of reactive oxygen species in the three Sphagneticola species at 60 d of cultivation under low light. O2·– was detected using nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) staining and H2O2 was detected using diaminobenzidine (DAB) staining in leaves of the three Sphagneticola species under full and low light.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5. The antioxidant enzyme activities in the three Sphagneticola species at 60 d of cultivation under low light. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) (A), peroxidase (POD) (B), and catalase (CAT) (C) of the three Sphagneticola species under full and low light. The data are shown as the means ± SE of five biological replicates. Asterisks indicate different significant differences (*P<0.05 and **P<0.01) according to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).
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