Some aspects of citrus ecophysiology in subtropical climates: re-visiting photosynthesis under natural conditions

By R. V. Ribeiro, E. Machado. 2007

93 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Received: 14 November 2007; Accepted: 12 December 2007In this review we re-visit and discuss the current knowledge on ecophysiology of citrus trees, addressing the influenceof environmental conditions on citrus photosynthesis. Knowledge of physiological responses of citrus trees to theirsurrounding environment is essential in order to improve crop production and plant development, both beingconsequences of appropriate horticultural management in citrus orchards. In this context, citrus photosynthesis isaddressed as the primary source of carbon and energy for plant growth and development. The photosynthetic activityon both a daily and a seasonal scale is reviewed, taking into consideration the physiological aspects related to seasonalvariation of photochemical and biochemical activities, stomatal conductance and leaf water potential. These aspects aretreated for citrus plants growing in subtropical climates with varying environmental conditions, such as moderate tosevere drought during the winter season. In addition, the possible inhibitory/stimulatory effects of carbohydratemetabolism on citrus photosynthesis are discussed with regard to the source-sink relationship. Field experimentationthat enhances knowledge concerning citrus ecophysiology in subtropical climates is highlighted. Among interestingsubjects to be unraveled by future research, we may point out the effects of low temperatures on citrus photosynthesisand water relations, the nature of the relationship between leaf carbohydrate content and photosynthesis, and thesignificance of photosynthesis in different canopy layers and positions in relation to the total carbon gain in maturecitrus trees.

Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Molecular Biology, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/be6467040d4709673677517f4f2134854b9a094b

Citations in the corpus