Leaf anthocyanins can be accumulated in the lower and upper epidermis ( Hughes and Smith, 2007 Merzlyak et al., 2008 Landi et al., 2013, 2014), the palisade and spongy mesophyll, or parenchymal cells ( Hughes et al., 2007 Kyparissis et al., 2007). These carbon skeletons are used for the biosynthesis of anthocyanins, which are reclaimed from the primary metabolism usually addressed to plant growth ( Hughes et al., 2005). The cost/benefit ratio that the plant maintains for the investment of carbon skeletons is still unknown. Besides photoprotecting, we propose that epidermal anthocyanins may be principally synthetized to maintain an efficient carbon-sink strength in young and senescent leaves, thus extending the RLP leaf lifespan.Īlthough the ecological role of foliar anthocyanins ( Gould et al., 2009 Hughes and Lev-Yadun, 2015 Landi et al., 2015 Menzies et al., 2016) has been thoroughly investigated, their functional significance is still an open issue ( Gould, 2004 Hughes et al., 2005 Manetas, 2006 Menzies et al., 2016). Anthocyanins contributed to leaf photoprotection throughout the leaf development, but were tightly coordinated with carotenoids. GLP leaves had a higher photosynthetic rate in 1- and 7-week-old leaves, but RLP leaves performed better at an early stage of senescence and had a longer leaf lifespan. Leaves (1-, 7-, and 13-week-old) of red- (RLP) and green-leafed (GLP) Prunus in terms of photosynthetic rate, carbon metabolism and photoprotective mechanisms were compared to test whether anthocyanin-equipped leaves perform better than anthocyanin-less leaves and whether photoprotection is the primary role of epidermally-located anthocyanins, using for the first time a recently-developed parameter of chlorophyll fluorescence (qPd). To date, mature leaves of different morphs or leaves at different developmental stages within the same species have generally been compared, whereas there is a lack of knowledge regarding different stages of development of red vs. 3Trees and Timber Institute, CNR, Sesto Fiorentino, ItalyĪnthocyanic morphs are generally less efficient in terms of carbon gain, but, in turn, are more photoprotected than anthocyanin-less ones.2“Nello Carrara” Institute of Applied Physics, CNR, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.1Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.Ermes Lo Piccolo 1, Marco Landi 1 *, Elisa Pellegrini 1, Giovanni Agati 2, Cristiana Giordano 3, Tommaso Giordani 1, Giacomo Lorenzini 1, Fernando Malorgio 1, Rossano Massai 1, Cristina Nali 1, Giovanni Rallo 1, Damiano Remorini 1, Paolo Vernieri 1 and Lucia Guidi 1
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