Photosynthetic activity of Lolium perenne as a function of endophyte status and zinc nutrition

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Abstract
Grass infection by endophyte fungi can confer host resistance to different types of stress, but limited evidence is available on the related effects on the photosynthetic mechanism of the grasses. Zinc has direct and indirect effects on this mechanism and is one of the more important environmental pollutants. To measure whether photosynthesis of the host plant is affected by fungal infection when endophyte-free and endophyte-infected grasses contain similar excess zinc concentrations in their leaves, two batches of Lolium perenne L. cv. Apollo plants were established, one batch was infected with Neotyphodium lolii, the other was not. Both batches were then treated for 8 d with a nutrient solution containing 0, 1, 5, 10 or 20 mm ZnSO4. The increase in zinc concentration induced some reduction in photosystem II (PSII) activity but not enough to account for the total drop in the net photosynthetic rate. Endophyte fungus favoured maintenance of the PSII activity, but did not significantly modify the net photosynthesis and similar zinc concentration levels were observed in leaves of both types of plant. Interactive effects of zinc and light induced less photodamage to the PSII of the host, which is able to react to an increase in photon flux density (PFD). In endophyte-free plants, the reaction centre contributed more than antenna complexes to energy dissipation. In endophyte-infected plants, the quenching of the reaction centre and antenna complexes rose simultaneously and at a constant rate, as zinc concentrations increased.