Association between winter anthocyanin production and drought stress in angiosperm evergreen species

Abstract

Leaves of many evergreen angiosperm species turn red under high light during winter due to the production of anthocyanin pigments, while leaves of other species remain green. There is currently no explanation for why some evergreen species exhibit winter reddening while others do not. Conditions associated with low leaf water potentials (Ψ) have been shown to induce reddening in many plant species. Because evergreen species differ in susceptibility to water stress during winter, it is hypothesized that species which undergo winter colour change correspond with those that experience/tolerate the most severe daily declines in leaf Ψ during winter. Six angiosperm evergreen species which synthesize anthocyanin in leaves under high light during winter and five species which do not were studied. Field Ψ, pressure/volume curves, and gas exchange measurements were derived in summer (before leaf colour change had occurred) and winter. Consistent with the hypothesis, red-leafed species as a group had significantly lower midday Ψ in winter than green-leafed species, but not during the summer when all the leaves were green. However, some red-leafed species showed midday declines similar to those of green-leafed species, suggesting that low Ψ alone may not induce reddening. Pressure–volume curves also provided some evidence of acclimation to more negative water potentials by red-leafed species during winter (e.g. greater osmotic adjustment and cell wall hardening on average). However, much overlap in these physiological parameters was observed as well between red and green-leafed species, and some of the least drought-acclimated species were red-leafed. No difference was observed in transpiration (E) during winter between red and green-leaved species. When data were combined, only three of the six red-leafed species examined appeared physiologically acclimated to prolonged drought stress, compared to one of the five green-leafed species. This suggests that drought stress alone is not sufficient to explain winter reddening in evergreen angiosperms.

Mineral deficiencies influence on tomato leaves: pigments, hydrogen peroxide and total phenolic compounds contents

“…However, wide ranges of primary and secondary metabolites are involved in the stress tolerance (Arbona et al, 2013;Ramalingam et al, 2015;Rodziewicz et al, 2014). Under different treatments, anthocyanin accumulation is considered as a positive response to oxidative stress (Diaz et al, 2006;Hughes et al, 2010;Misyura et al, 2012). In addition, the accumulation of carotenoids is regarded to suppress the oxidation (Cao et al, 2015).…”

Carbohydrate accumulation may be the proximate trigger of anthocyanin biosynthesis under autumn conditions in Begonia semperflorens

“…When autumn arrives, plants are exposed to a series of stresses, low temperature, high light and drought, which induce some plants to accumulate anthocyanins (Hughes et al 2010;Zhang et al 2010;Hughes 2011), possibly to protect them from photoinhibition. Anthocyanins may play a positive role in plant resistance to stress.…”

“…In addition, anthocyanins are also induced by stress, such as high light (Zhang et al 2010), low temperature (Close et al 2004), wounding (Reyes & Cisneros-Zevallos 2003), pathogen infection (Karageorgou & Manetas 2006) and nutrient deficiency (Peng et al 2008). Anthocyanin accumulation in plant tissues as a result of cooler autumn or winter conditions has been reported for many plants (Merzlyak et al 2008;Murakami et al 2008;Hughes et al 2010;Hughes 2011). The general trigger for this phenomenon is thought to be excess irradiance energy and low temperatures, as found in autumn.…”

“…The resulting depression in light use capacity stimulates anthocyanin synthesis in the peripheral mesophyll layers of leaves (Hughes et al 2005), which causes anthocyanin to attenuate light energy and thus protect plants from photoinhibition (Steyn et al 2002). In addition to the well-described and generally accepted factor of low temperature in induction of anthocyanins, low osmotic potential corresponding with drought may also lead to anthocyanin synthesis (Chalker-Scott 2002;Hughes et al 2010). Anthocyanins can be induced by osmotic stressors such as high salinity (Eryilmaz 2006) and drought (Castellarin et al 2007;Hooijmaijers 2008;Hughes et al 2010).…”

“…In addition to the well-described and generally accepted factor of low temperature in induction of anthocyanins, low osmotic potential corresponding with drought may also lead to anthocyanin synthesis (Chalker-Scott 2002;Hughes et al 2010). Anthocyanins can be induced by osmotic stressors such as high salinity (Eryilmaz 2006) and drought (Castellarin et al 2007;Hooijmaijers 2008;Hughes et al 2010). Furthermore, anthocyanin synthesis has been shown to improve resistance to oxidative stress caused by low osmotic potential (Eryilmaz 2006).…”