Different drought-stress responses in photosynthesis and reactive oxygen metabolism between autotetraploid and diploid rice

Photosynthetic light curve, chlorophyll (Chl) content, Chl fluorescence parameters, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) activity and reactive oxygen metabolism were studied under drought stress in two autotetraploid rice lines and corresponding diploid rice lines. Net photosynthetic rate decreased dramatically, especially under severe drought stress and under high photosynthetic active radiation in diploid rice, while it declined less under the same conditions in autotetraploid lines. Compared with the corresponding diploid lines, the Chl content, maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem (PS) II, and actual photochemical efficiency of PSII were reduced less in autotetraploid lines. PEPC activities were higher in autotetraploid rice lines. PEPC could alleviate inhibition of photosynthesis caused by drought stress. The chromosome-doubling enhanced rice photoinhibition tolerance under drought stress. The lower MDA content and superoxide anion production rate was found in the autotetraploid rice indicating low peroxidation level of cell membranes. At the same time, the superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) activities were higher in autotetraploid rice lines. SOD, POD, and CAT could effectively diminish the reactive oxygen species and reduced the membrane lipid peroxidation.