The lutein epoxide cycle in vegetative buds of woody plants
José I. García-Plazaola A D , Koldobika Hormaetxe A , Antonio Hernández A B , José M. Olano C and José M. Becerril AA Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of the Basque Country EHU, Aptdo 644, E-48 080 Bilbao, Spain.
B Dirección de Innovación y Desarrollo, OHL, Gobelas 35-37, El Plantío, E-28 023 Madrid, Spain.
C Área de Biología Vegetal, Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Escuela de Ingenierías Agrarias, Los Pajaritos s / n, Soria, E-42 003 Spain.
D Corresponding author; email: gvpgaplj@lg.ehu.es
Functional Plant Biology 31(8) 815-823 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP04054
Submitted: 12 March 2004 Accepted: 12 May 2004 Published: 23 August 2004
Abstract
Recent works have shown that two xanthophyll cycles operate simultaneously in several plant species: the ubiquitous violaxanthin + anteraxanthin + zeaxanthin (VAZ) cycle and the lutein epoxide (Lx) cycle. In the present work we tested for the presence of the Lx cycle in vegetative buds of woody plants. After an extensive screening of 130 species, we have shown that Lx is present in buds of many different plant species and leaf primordia are enriched in Lx compared with leaves. As a result, the Lx pool was higher than the violaxanthin (V) pool in several species. Although Lx can be potentially de-epoxidised in buds, light attenuation by scales inhibited the daily operation of the Lx cycle. This finding would imply that the Lx cycle is not involved in short-term reversible photoprotection in buds. However, a light-induced decrease in Lx was observed through the winter. An extensive screening of 130 species in 49 families conducted to elucidate the taxonomic extension of this cycle showed a widespread presence of the Lx cycle. The presence of Lx has a high fidelity at the family level, but its presence in unrelated taxa suggests that this character has appeared independently in several different groups of plants.
Keywords: lutein, taxanomic distribution, xanthophyll cycle.
Acknowledgments
KH received a fellowship from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Spain and AH received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Department of Education of the Basque Government. This research was supported by research grant AGL 2001–1131 from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Spain UPV 118.310-13533/2001. We thank the Real Jardín Botánico of Madrid and its staff for access to the plant collection and to Raquel Esteban for technical assistance.
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