Photosystem II (PSII) activities in both samara and leaf of white elm (Ulmus pumila L.) were significantly inhibited by enhanced UV-B radiation (UVBR). UVBR disturbed both the donor and acceptor sides of PSII. The plastoquinone (PQ) pool size on the acceptor side, the trapped excited energy for complete reduction of Q(A), and the proportion of closed PSII reaction centers (RCs) increased, with PSII RCs being transformed into dissipative sinks for excitation energy under UVBR. However, samara and leaf responded to UVBR in different ways. A decrease in the F (0) for leaf induced by UV-B radiation suggests the formation of fluorescence-quenching centers. An increase in the V(I) for leaf under UVBR might mean the accumulation of reduced Q(A) and PQ. F (0) and V(I) for samara showed opposite change pattern. Leaf has the mechanism of regulation of the amount of light reaching the RC through decreasing the number of light-harvesting chlorophyll molecules under UVBR while samara may be unable to regulate the light-harvesting capacity. PSII in samara was more susceptible to UVBR than that in leaf, with PI(ABS) for samara decreasing more rapidly by a factor of 6.4 than that for leaf. Samara can recover more easily from UVBR-induced damage to PSII than the leaf.

Publication name	RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY　Volume: 58 　Issue: 5 　Pages: 864-870　 Published: SEP 2011
Author(s)	Pan, X. L.; Zhang, D. Y.; Li, L.
Corresponding author	PAN X.L.  zhangdaoyong@vip.gyig.ac.cn  Chinese Acad Sci, Xinjiang Inst Ecol & Geog, Key Lab Biogeog & Bioresource Arid Land, Urumqi 830011, Peoples R China
Author(s) from IGCAS	ZHANG D. Y.

View here for the full text from the publisher