The photosynthetic and structural differences between leaves and siliques of Brassica napus exposed to potassium deficiency

BACKGROUND: Most studies of photosynthesis in chlorenchymas under potassium (K) deficiency focus exclusively on leaves; however, little information is available on the physiological role of K on reproductive structures, which play a critical role in plant carbon gain. Brassica napus L., a natural organ-succession species, was used to compare the morphological, anatomical and photo-physiological differences between leaves and siliques exposed to K-deficiency. RESULTS: Compared to leaves, siliques displayed considerably lower CO(2) assimilation rates (A) under K-deficient (−K) or sufficient conditions (+K), limited by decreased stomatal conductance (g (s)), apparent quantum yield (α) and carboxylation efficiency (CE), as well as the ratio of the maximum rate of electron transport (J (max)) and the maximum rate of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylation (V (cmax)). The estimated J (max), V (cmax) and α of siliques were considerably lower than the theoretical value calculated on the basis of a similar ratio between these parameters and chlorophyll concentration (i.e. J (max)/Chl, V (cmax)/Chl and α/Chl) to leaves, of which the gaps between estimated- and theoretical-J (max) was the largest. In addition, the average ratio of J (max) to V (cmax) was 16.1% lower than that of leaves, indicating that the weakened electron transport was insufficient to meet the requirements for carbon assimilation. Siliques contained larger but fewer stoma, tightly packed cross-section with larger cells and fewer intercellular air spaces, fewer and smaller chloroplasts and thin grana lamellae, which might be linked to the reduction in light capture and CO(2) diffusion. K-deficiency significantly decreased leaf and silique A under the combination of down-regulated stomatal size and g (s), chloroplast number, α, V (cmax) and J (max), while the CO(2) diffusion distance between chloroplast and cell wall (D (chl-cw)) was enhanced. Siliques were more sensitive than leaves to K-starvation, exhibiting smaller reductions in tissue K and parameters such as g (s), V (cmax), J (max) and D (chl-cw). CONCLUSION: Siliques had substantially smaller A than leaves, which was attributed to less efficient functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus, especially the integrated limitations of biochemical processes (J (max) and V (cmax)) and α; however, siliques were slightly less sensitive to K deficiency. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-017-1201-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.