J. He et al., Alleviation of photoinhibition in Heliconia grown under tropical natural conditions after release from nutrient stress, J PLANT NUT, 23(2), 2000, pp. 181-196
We have previously reported that full sun-grown Heliconia "Golden Torch" le
aves exhibited sustained decreased in PS II efficiency as compared to those
grown under shade conditions. In this study, full sunlight plus low level
of fertilization caused a further reduction of photosynthesis, chlorophyll
content and F-v/F-m ratio while plants grown at high level of nutrient show
ed higher values of all these parameters. When plants grown under intermedi
ate and deep shade, there was no significant difference in all parameters i
rrespective of nutrient supply. In the recovery experiments, plants without
fertilizer were re-fertilized weekly. Maximal photosynthetic rates, chloro
phyll content, and F-v/F-m ratio increased gradually after re-fertilizing t
he plants grown under full sunlight. However, no significant changes of the
se parameters were observed in plants grown under intermediate and deep sha
de over the same period. Total leaf nitrogen (N) was measured parallel with
all the parameters. Photosynthetic rates, chlorophyll content, and F-v/F-m
ratio showed a clear linear correlation with total leaf N in plants grown
under full sunlight while there was no clear relationship observed in those
plants grown under intermediate and deep shade. These results suggest that
acclimation of Heliconia under full sunlight could be achieved by high lev
el of nutrient fertilization.