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Clumping and dispersal of chloroplasts in succulent plants

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Abstract

Plants have evolved various photoprotective mechanisms to mitigate photodamage. Here we report the diurnal movement of chloroplasts in the leaves of succulent crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants under combined light and water stress. In leaves of water-stressed plants, the chloroplasts became densely clumped in one or sometimes two areas in the cytoplasm under light and dispersed during darkness. The chloroplast clumping resulted in leaf optical changes, with a decrease in absorptance and an increase in transmittance. The plant stress hormone abscisic acid induced chloroplast clumping in the leaf cells under light. We suggest that the marked chloroplast movement in these CAM plants is a photoprotective strategy used by the plants subjected to severe water stress.

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Fig. 1a–c
Fig. 2a–g
Fig. 3a–d
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Fig. 6a–d

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Abbreviations

ABA :

Abscisic acid

CAM :

Crassulacean acid metabolism

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Acknowledgements

We thank Akiko Higuchi, Kyoko Hirasawa, and Atsushi Kato (Meijo University) for their assistance with some aspects of this study; Haruhiko Ito (Nagoya Municipal Industrial Research Institute) for technical assistance in the measurement of leaf optical properties; and Dr. Akihiro Nose (Saga University) for his encouragement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Physiology Department, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8602, Japan

    Osamu Ueno

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Meijo University, Tempaku-ku, Nagoya 468-8502, Japan

    Ayumu Kondo, Jun Kaikawa & Toru Funaguma

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  1. Ayumu Kondo
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  2. Jun Kaikawa
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  3. Toru Funaguma
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  4. Osamu Ueno
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Correspondence to Osamu Ueno.

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Kondo, A., Kaikawa, J., Funaguma, T. et al. Clumping and dispersal of chloroplasts in succulent plants. Planta 219, 500–506 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-004-1252-3

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