Daily changes in CO2 and water vapor exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, and leaf water relations in the halophyte Mesembryanthemum crystallinum during the induction of crassulacean acid metabolism in response to high NaCl salinity

Simultaneous measurements of net CO2 exchange, water vapor exchange, and leaf water relations were performed in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum during the development of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) in response to high NaCl salinity in the rooting medium. Determinations of chlorophyll a fluorescence were used to estimate relative changes in electron transport rate. Alterations in leaf mass per unit area, which--on a short-term basis--largely reflect changes in water content, were recorded continuously with a beta-gauge. Turgor pressure of mesophyll cells was determined with a pressure probe. As reported previously (K Winter, DJ von Willert [1972] Z Pflanzenphysiol 67: 166-170), recently expanded leaves of plants grown under nonsaline conditions showed gas-exchange characteristics of a C3 plant. Although these plants were not exposed to any particular stress treatment, water content and turgor pressure regularly decreased toward the end of the 12 hour light periods and recovered during the following 12 hours of darkness. When the NaCl concentration of the rooting medium was raised to 400 millimolar, in increments of 100 millimolar given at the onset of the photoperiods for 4 consecutive days, leaf water content and turgor pressure decreased by as much as 30 and 60%, respectively, during the course of the photoperiods. These transient decreases probably triggered the induction of the biochemical machinery which is required for CAM to operate. After several days at 400 millimolar NaCl, when leaves showed features typical of CAM, overall turgor pressure and leaf mass per unit area had increased above the levels before onset of the salt treatment, and diurnal alterations in leaf water content were reduced. Net carbon gain during photoperiods and average intercellular CO2 partial pressures at which net CO2 uptake occurred, progressively decreased upon salinization. Reversible diurnal depressions in leaf conductance and net CO2 uptake, with minima recorded in the middle of the photoperiods, preceded the occurrence of nocturnal net CO2 uptake. During these reductions, intercellular CO2 partial pressure and rates of photosynthetic electron transport decreased. With advancing age, leaves of plants grown under nonsaline conditions exhibited progressively greater diurnal reductions in turgor pressure and developed a low degree of CAM activity.