Foliar antioxidant status of adult Mediterranean oak species (Quercus ilex L. and Q. pubescens Willd.) exposed to permanent CO2-enrichment and to seasonal water stress

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) Vol. 115; no. 3; pp. 413 - 423
• Main Authors: MARABOTTINI, R, SCHRAML, C, PAOLACCI, A. R, SORGONA, A, RASCHI, A, RENNENBERG, H, BADIANI, M
• Format: Conference Proceeding Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier 01-01-2001
• Subjects: Acclimatization; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Antioxidants - metabolism; Applied ecology; Ascorbate Peroxidases; Ascorbic Acid - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Carbon Dioxide - pharmacology; Catalase - biosynthesis; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on plants and fungi; Forestry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General forest ecology; Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology; Glutathione - metabolism; Mediterranean Region; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidative Stress; Peroxidases - biosynthesis; Plant Leaves - drug effects; Plant Leaves - metabolism; Quercus - drug effects; Quercus - metabolism; Seasons; Species Specificity; Superoxide Dismutase - metabolism; Trees - drug effects; Trees - metabolism; Water - administration & dosage; Italy; Europe; Tuscany; Mediterranean Region; Oxidative stress; Ascorbic acid; Enzyme; Water deficit; L-Ascorbate peroxidase; Carbon dioxide; Superoxide dismutase; Plant leaf; Quercus ilex; Antioxidant; Forest decline; Fagaceae; Medium enrichment; Peroxidases; Enzymatic activity; Catalase; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Air pollution; Hardwood forest tree; Spermatophyta; Oxidoreductases; Quercus pubescens
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/S0269-7491(01)00231-7

Foliar antioxidants were measured in adult individuals of holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) and white oak (Q. pubescens Willd.) growing in the field either within the vicinity of natural CO2 springs or at a nearby control site under ambient CO2, which had been previously exposed to either daily irrigation or no irrigation. In oak trees permanently exposed to elevated CO2 the activities of antioxidant enzymes tended to be lower and the ascorbate pool was larger and more in reduced form, suggesting an attenuation of the oxidative risk in the CO2-enriched trees. In the enriched individuals of both species. the imposition of water shortage significantly increased the size of the glutathione pool and the total superoxide dismutase activity in a species-specific manner. Moreover, water-stressed trees exposed to elevated CO2 tended to have higher catalase and ascorbate peroxidase activities than water-stressed control trees. Such changes may reflect the need for an enhanced compensatory effort when trees acclimated to elevated CO2 are exposed to oxidative stress-promoting environmental factors, such as water shortage.