Responses of Growth, Oxidative Injury and Chloroplast Ultrastructure in Leaves of Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea to Elevated O(3) Concentrations

The effects of increasing atmospheric ozone (O(3)) concentrations on cool-season plant species have been well studied, but little is known about the physiological responses of cool-season turfgrass species such as Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea exposed to short-term acute pollution with elevated O(3) concentrations (80 ppb and 160 ppb, 9 h d(−1)) for 14 days, which are widely planted in urban areas of Northern China. The current study aimed to investigate and compare O(3) sensitivity and differential changes in growth, oxidative injury, antioxidative enzyme activities, and chloroplast ultrastructure between the two turf-type plant species. The results showed that O(3) decreased significantly biomass regardless of plant species. Under 160 ppb O(3), total biomass of L. perenne and F. arundinacea significantly decreased by 55.3% and 47.8% (p < 0.05), respectively. No significant changes were found in visible injury and photosynthetic pigment contents in leaves of the two grass species exposed to 80 ppb O(3), except for 160 ppb O(3). However, both 80 ppb and 160 ppb O(3) exposure induced heavily oxidative stress by high accumulation of malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species in leaves and damage in chloroplast ultrastructure regardless of plant species. Elevated O(3) concentration (80 ppb) increased significantly the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidaseby 77.8%, 1.14-foil and 34.3% in L. perenne leaves, and 19.2%, 78.4% and 1.72-fold in F. arundinacea leaves, respectively. These results showed that F. arundinacea showed higher O(3) tolerance than L. perenne. The damage extent by elevated O(3) concentrations could be underestimated only by evaluating foliar injury or chlorophyll content without considering the internal physiological changes, especially in chloroplast ultrastructure and ROS accumulation.