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Environmental and Stress Physiology

Characterization of the Xanthophyll Cycle and Other Photosynthetic Pigment Changes Induced by Iron Deficiency in Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) ¹

Department of Plant Nutrition, Aula Dei Experimental Station, CSIC, Apdo. 202, 50080 Zaragoza, Spain

In this work we characterize the changes induced by iron deficiency in the pigment composition of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) leaves. When sugar beet plants were grown hydroponically under limited iron supply, neoxanthin and -carotene decreased concomitantly with chlorophyll a, whereas lutein and the carotenoids within the xanthophyll cycle were less affected. Iron deficiency caused major increases in the lutein/chlorophyll a and xanthophyll cycle pigments/chlorophyll a molar ratios. Xanthophyll cycle carotenoids in Fe-deficient plants underwent epoxidations and de-epoxidations in response to ambient light conditions. In dark adapted Fe-deficient plants most of the xanthophyll cycle pigment pool was in the epoxidated form violaxanthin. We show, both by HPLC and by in vivo 505 nanometers absorbance changes, that in Fe deficient plants and in response to light, the de-epoxidated forms antheraxanthin and zeaxanthin were rapidly formed at the expense of violaxanthin. Several hours after returning to dark, the xanthophyll cycle was shifted again toward violaxanthin. The ratio of variable to maximum chlorophyll fluorescence from intact leaves was decreased by iron deficiency. However, in iron deficient leaves this ratio was little affected by light conditions which displace the xanthophyll cycle toward epoxidation or de-epoxidation. This suggests that the functioning of the xanthophyll cycle is not necessarily linked to protection against excess light input.

¹ Supported by grants from Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica PB88-0084 and Consejo Asesor de Investigación-Diputación General de Aragón CA 8/88 to J. A.

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