Plant Physiol.
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Chloroplast Acclimation in Leaves of Guzmania monostachia in Response to High Light1

Kate Maxwell*, Joanne L. Marrison, Rachel M. Leech, Howard Griffiths, and Peter Horton

Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, King George VI Building, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom (K.M., H.G.); Department of Biology, The University of York, P.O. Box 373, York YO1 5YW, United Kingdom (J.L.M., R.M.L.); and Robert Hill Institute, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom (P.H.)

Acclimation of leaves to high light (HL; 650 µmol m-2 s-1) was investigated in the long-lived epiphytic bromeliad Guzmania monostachia and compared with plants maintained under low light (LL; 50 µmol m-2 s-1). Despite a 60% decrease in total chlorophyll in HL-grown plants, the chlorophyll a/b ratio remained stable. Additionally, chloroplasts from HL-grown plants had a much lower thylakoid content and reduced granal stacking. Immunofluorescent labeling techniques were used to quantify the level of photosynthetic polypeptides. HL-grown plants had 30% to 40% of the content observed in LL-grown plants for the light-harvesting complex associated with photosystems I and II, the 33-kD photosystem II polypeptide, and Rubisco. These results were verified using conventional biochemical techniques, which revealed a comparable 60% decrease in Rubisco and total soluble protein. When expressed on a chlorophyll basis, the amount of protein and Rubisco was constant for HL- and LL-grown plants. Acclimation to HL involves a tightly coordinated adjustment of photosynthesis, indicating a highly regulated decrease in the number of photosynthetic units manifested at the level of the content of light-harvesting and electron transport components, the amount of Rubisco, and the induction of Crassulacean acid metabolism. This response occurs in mature leaves and may represent a strategy that is optimal for the resource-limited epiphytic niche.

1   This work was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, UK (grant no. GR3/8763).
*   Corresponding author; e-mail kate.maxwell{at}newcastle.ac.uk; fax 44-191-222-5228.

Plant Physiol. (1999) 121: 89-96
Copyright Clearance Center:   0032-0889/99/121//08
© 1999 American Society of Plant Physiologists




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