Influence of Light of Different Spectral Compositions on the Growth, Photosynthesis, and Expression of Light-Dependent Genes of Scots Pine Seedlings

Abstract

Varying the spectral composition of light is one of the ways to accelerate the growth of conifers under artificial conditions for the development of technologies and to obtain sustainable seedlings required to preserve the existing areas of forests. We studied the influence of light of different quality on the growth, gas exchange, fluorescence indices of Chl a, and expression of key light-dependent genes of Pinus sylvestris L. seedlings. It was shown that in plants growing under red light (RL), the biomass of needles and root system increased by more than two and three times, respectively, compared with those of the white fluorescent light (WFL) control. At the same time, the rates of photosynthesis and respiration in RL and blue light (BL) plants were lower than those of blue red light (BRL) plants, and the difference between the rates of photosynthesis and respiration, which characterizes the carbon balance, was maximum under RL. RL influenced the number of xylem cells, activated the expression of genes involved in the transduction of cytokinin (Histidine-containing phosphotransfer 1, HPT1, Type-A Response Regulators, RR-A) and auxin (Auxin-induced protein 1, Aux/IAA) signals, and reduced the expression of the gene encoding the transcription factor phytochrome-interacting factor 3 (PIF3). It was suggested that RL-induced activation of key genes of cytokinin and auxin signaling might indicate a phytochrome-dependent change in cytokinins and auxins activity.

Manganese Deficiency Suppresses Growth and Photosynthetic Processes but Causes an Increase in the Expression of Photosynthetic Genes in Scots Pine Seedlings

“…A gradient decrease in needle water content, which was more pronounced in control plants ( Figure 2 D), highlights the maturation of the needles. Scots pine is photophilous [ 31 , 37 ]; however, in the first few seasons of their life, seedlings can only be higher than the surrounding herbaceous plants for a short period of time, which causes a lack of light [ 31 ]. For this reason, the Chl a and Chl b contents in cotyledons (data not presented) are 2–3-fold higher than those in juvenile needles.…”

“…RNA isolation was performed according to the method of Kolosova et al [ 29 ], with some modifications described in Pashkovskiy et al [ 30 ]. cDNA synthesis and qRT-PCR analysis of gene expression patterns were performed according to Pashkovskiy et al [ 31 ]. The list of gene-specific primers is given in Table S1 .…”

Effect of Light Intensity on Morphology, Photosynthesis and Carbon Metabolism of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) Seedlings

“…F 0 is the initial Chl fluorescence level. All parameters were calculated according to the methods reported by Pashkovskiy et al (2021) [62].…”

Effect of Phytochrome Deficiency on Photosynthesis, Light-Related Genes Expression and Flavonoid Accumulation in Solanum lycopersicum under Red and Blue Light

“…Thus, the highest number of cells on both the abaxial and adaxial sides of the leaves was found in the triple mutant, and their number was four times higher than that in the WT and other mutants. This result indicates a change in the hormonal status of the triple mutant and a possible increase in the level of cytokinins relative to auxins [ 34 ].…”