Ecophysiological roles of abaxial anthocyanins in a perennial understorey herb from temperate deciduous forests.

ABSTRACT: Accumulation of abaxial anthocyanins is an intriguing leaf trait particularly common among deeply shaded understorey plants of tropical and temperate forests whose ecological significance is still not properly understood. To shed light on it, possible ecophysiological roles of abaxial anthocyanins were tested in the perennial understorey herb of temperate deciduous forests Saxifraga hirsuta, chosen as a model species due to the coexistence of green and anthocyanic leaves and the presence of an easily removable lower anthocyanic epidermis. Anthocyanins accumulated during autumn, which temporally matched the overstorey leaf fall. Patterns of development of abaxial anthocyanins and direct measurements of photochemical efficiency under monochromatic light were not consistent with a photoprotec

SUBMITTER: Fernandez-Marin B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4481727 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature